Stargate: SG-WOLF
by Lennex MacDuff
Summary: What if Jack O'Neill had committed suicide before the Abydos mission? What if someone had intervened? A new champion for humanity has been called upon and he'll be making a few changes to the universe this time around. Because after all, if you're not cheating, you're not trying. An OC-insert story using my own character. Will contain elements from other shows, books and movies.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**OK, this is my first ever published fic, so I hope it does well enough to encourage me to keep writing. I had a lot of fun coming up with different ways I'd like to play out certain situations with my own character here.**

**As one or two of you may have noticed, the title bears a similarity to a fic called Stargate SG-Fox, by Commander Kitsune. If you aren't familiar with him, I highly recommend giving him a look. He's got some great ideas and this fic was largely inspired by him and his work. Unfortunately, he hasn't posted in some time, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have some stuff worth reading on his page.**

**I'm looking forward to writing this fic for you guys, but I want to hear your feedback if you have any to give. Maybe in the future, I will post some of my other stories if I get around to fleshing them out a bit. Right now, I have a bunch of great moments here with very little story to connect them to one another. We'll see how it goes now that I have the time in my life to write more often. Hopefully, you'll be seeing more from me soon!**

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter One: You Have Been Called Upon to Serve

"Not to try and dissuade you from this decision, but why me? There must be countless candidates more suitable than me," I remarked.

The hospital machinery around me beeped softly to indicate my vital signs as the low hum of hospital activity made itself heard through the door to my room. I had arranged for a private room as I was able to arrange one at a decent price with my health insurance. Plus, it wasn't like I expected to worry about things like money for much longer.

"You have always professed a desire to serve," the Man said. "To be of use if called upon. Perhaps there are more suitable candidates out there, but I know you're exactly what I'm looking for and in precisely the right situation to make your recruitment appeal to me."

The curtains blocked out most of the evening light, but the lamp beside my bed made the 'man's' features plain as day to me. A middle-aged man somewhere in his 30's or 40's with short, styled brown hair. He wore an older style black suit with a white undershirt with a popped collar and no tie. His slacks and shoes were both black as well. He was cleanshaven and had a largely unremarkable face. I'd have never picked him out of a crowd if he was standing in it.

"As you may have noticed," I weakly raised on trembling arm to gesture all around us. "I am not as capable as I once was. Perhaps you should have visited me while I was still capable of getting up and going to the bathroom? How much could I achieve as I am?"

Indeed, my aged body wasn't going to be getting out of this bed again, let alone accomplish much of anything. I wasn't here because I was dying of cancer or some terrible illness or injury that was beyond the capabilities of modern medicine. I had ended up here for the most common of all human conditions.

I was here because I was old.

I had lived a fairly normal life, all things considered. A few highlights and a few scars to show I had survived the worst of it, but not any more remarkable than what most old people could tell you. I had never had children of my own, but I had married a woman with two of her own and had loved them both like they were my own. She had passed several years ago, but the children loved me enough in turn that they had both visited me regularly after the fact. Both they and their families had gone home for the day and the Man had come around shortly after. And he had come with an offer.

"You of course won't continue with the body you were born with," he said. "Rather, arrangements have already been made for you, should you accept. Young, fit, and a few added gifts to come along as time goes on. We want you to accept and are prepared to incentivize you appropriately. You're still a Captain America fan, I hope?"

I decided to ignore that last apparent non sequitur. "Let's hear it one more time. Just so we have it all laid out."

The Man hummed, as if in agreement. "Bottom line is that Colonel Jack O'Neill, the 'future' leader of SG-1 and hero of the galaxy, has died in his universe. The man was borderline suicidal after the death of his son, so it's no surprise that this happened in at least one universe spawned off of the original. I know Oma Desala and she asked for my own assistance in finding a replacement as she's predicted disaster without intervention in this matter."

"You've watched the show, albeit some time ago, but you remember the highlights. The entire galaxy, in fact, several galaxies are in mortal peril. Neither she, nor her people are allowed to interfere directly due to the rules and restrictions they place on themselves. However, she's more or less a free agent and able to act in a certain manner without harsh punishment. Her people have made it clear that finding a replacement would be tolerated, albeit however reluctantly by the hardliners."

The Man gestured to me at that point. "You meet the criteria. You have the right mindset and even have prior military service, which is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. As you've said," he smiled wryly at this point. "You're not going to be doing much else. In fact, I can promise that one way or the other, you won't wake up to the same sun tomorrow."

I might have been surprised at this casual mention of my death, but the Man had only more or less confirmed what I strongly suspected myself. My condition hadn't improved since I had been checked into the hospital and I could feel myself growing steadily weaker by the day. After a long life, I had been preparing for whatever may come after. But now…

"A new life," I mused aloud. "And a new purpose. An opportunity to serve. If you really did your research, you'd know how much that idea would appeal to me. You'd know how low the chances are that I'd say no."

There was no trace of shame in the Man's expression as he replied. "Indeed. This offer gives you the chance to satisfy that part of yourself. Do you feel anger that I knew how to sell this to you?"

"No," I answered. "I can't be mad that you're essentially giving me a chance to live the life I've wanted to live. Manipulation or not, it's what I want."

"Is that your acceptance to my proposal?" the Man asked.

"I suppose it is," I shrugged or at least tried to. I was much more tired than I was when this conversation began. "How are we doing this?"

The Man smiled as he reached out and took my hand in a firm grip. I tried to grip back, but I didn't have much strength left in me anymore.

The Man began to explain. "When you get there, you'll have just been sent to Cheyanne Mountain. All the memories of your life there will be available to you as well as most of the ones from here. You will keep everything personal to you, but certain information will be blocked as it pertains to events that must occur as they are fixed points. Otherwise, you'll have the freedom to make changes as you see fit. It'll be your story, so tell it how you want it to be told. You have our trust, so just do what you believe to be right."

"That's good," I said. My eyes were getting heavy. I didn't think I was going to be waking up in this room again.

"Before you go to sleep," the Man added. "You should know that this universe isn't the original Stargate Universe. One of the reasons you have so much latitude is that it'll be an amalgamation of the remnants of several different universes reforming. Most things will be the same, but you'll certainly recognize some things as you explore more. Plus, Oma will certainly want to plant certain nuggets of information into your head to ensure you're not left in the dark and remove others for your own protection."

"Sounds like it'll be…quite the…party," I sighed, finally closing my eyes.

Just before drifting asleep, I heard the beeping of the monitors around me change into a long constant drone.

**~SG-WOLF~**

On a plane of existence mortal minds couldn't truly comprehend, two powerful beings pondered over the consciousness they held between them, represented by a shining ball of light.

"You found one to agree on the first attempt?" asked the first. "I did not think you would be so successful on your first candidate."

The second shrugged. "I made a careful selection. His soul is one happy to help and was ready to pass onto the realm of souls when I made the pitch to him," the second being.

Oma Desala had shed her corporeal form thousands of years ago in favor of existing in a state above what most beings experienced. Still, she, like most of her people, had retained some semblance of her mortal form to project while interacting with one another. Oma had chosen to keep her face in this interaction and allow her true form, consisting of nebulous light and several bright tendrils, to be seen as her body.

The Man she was dealing with was one of several dozen entities she had come into contact with since she had become something of a radical among her own people. Most of the other ascended Alterrans knew of the existence of these other beings but chose not to interact much with them. When Oma was all but cast out by her own people, she sought out these other entities for company and to satisfy curiosity.

Many of them were unknowable and mysterious to her. Some chose to ignore her existence entirely when she approached them. Others were fascinating and entirely different than what she and her people had assumed them to be. These interactions taught Oma that while her people considered themselves all knowing, they really weren't. She had learned enough to have learned that she knew only a portion of what existence had to offer. Being ascended offered her great opportunities to explore and learn, but she was one of the few ascended that seemed to revel in that rather than ignore it.

The Man was the one who had explained to her the nature of her universe when she had encountered him. She was utterly fascinated by his existence and his incredible ability to cross between universes when her own people had never even made the attempt, according to her knowledge. When it became clear to her what her own universe was a part of and what would come, she had asked the Man why he had revealed this knowledge to her. He told her that a time of great change and upheaval would come upon her universe and galaxy soon. However, while many events were set to happen, a great setback had taken place when a man named Jack O'Neill had committed suicide. He had informed her in no uncertain terms that he was one of the most important players in the years ahead and any hope for the future had relied upon him being the right man in the right place at the right time.

She had been appalled to learn this. She had begun discussing options with him that she knew the others would never allow her to get away with. Whether using their own powers or lost pieces of technology left behind by their people. She had been thinking how to carry out these far-flung plans in the vain hope her people would listen to her when the Man had offered an option she had not considered.

As a being that existed outside of her universe, he could recruit her a new candidate. This person or 'champion' as the Man referred to them as, could not only fill the role of his dead predecessor, but perhaps even make improvements. Someone who could use their advanced knowledge of events to shift events even further into her and her galaxy's favor.

She had questioned him about the wisdom of this action, even if the others would allow it. He had explained that it was the best way to solve her problem and that since he was not bound to the rules of her people, he could act with more freedom than she. He also explained that since she would be allowed to review the 'champion' before he was placed, her people couldn't really fault her for making sure the 'champion' didn't have forbidden or dangerous knowledge. She had come up with several arguments against this idea which were each shot down by the Man with simple and straightforward logic. She had wondered what the Man could have as an ulterior motive in this situation but couldn't prove anything malicious was lying beneath his suggestion. With some skepticism remaining, she had accepted his offer.

Now, the two stood looking over the 'champion.'

"He won't be able to go into this with all of his knowledge intact. I've reviewed what you've told me and what he already knows and I will have to remove some of his knowledge of certain events, places and technologies," Oma said.

"As agreed upon," the Man said, nodding. "I believe it will give him a chance to rise to the occasion."

"You hold a great deal of confidence in this one," Oma remarked, somewhat skeptical of there being a hidden agenda to this situation. "Why is that?" She had been deceived once before. She had vowed to never let it happen again.

"I've found that many humans hold incredible potential within them," the Man said. Oma saw him straighten his jacket before putting his hands inside his pockets. Or at least, that's what his astral form appeared to do according to her own perception of the Man. "Most simply never have the need, the means or the opportunity to truly express it," the Man continued. "This was one of a hundred candidates I had scouted and apart from being one of the better choices, was also the most convenient to recruit. He had few ties and little incentive to refuse. All we have to do is prepare to insert him surreptitiously onto Earth and make sure his body and cover story is ready. He'll get it done."

Oma hummed thoughtfully as she continued examining the soul before her, already deciding which pieces of knowledge had to go. A few tidbits would be added by her, but not too much and nothing truly obvious. She was on thin ice here no matter how the Man wanted to phrase it or rationalize it to her.

"For all of our sake's," Oma said, preparing herself. "I hope you are right."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter Two: "Join Us at Cheyanne Mountain!"

I now sat before General West. He was a no-nonsense kind of leader and had made that rather clear with his speech and personality traits. He was exactly the kind of officer who actually checked that a base had been cleaned top to bottom if he was visiting it. My understanding was that he was still a competent leader and had been nominated for this position due to his decisive nature and the fact that he had spent the last few years rubbing elbows with other senior officers at the Pentagon

Beside me sat Catherine Langford. She was an old and seemingly frail woman reaching about 70, but she still had her razor-sharp mind and a lot of spirit. She headed the civilian team for Project Giza and was highly respected in the academic field for her family's contributions to excavations and universities throughout the world.

As for me, I was certainly younger and fitter than I had been in my previous lifetime. I was the same height as my old self, standing at 6'2" tall. I was far fitter than I remembered being even in my prime, with firm, corded muscles and a surprising amount of stamina and strength. I wasn't exactly a linebacker, but I certainly looked like someone you wouldn't want to take a swing at. I had neatly cut straight brown hair on my head that was close, but not quite out of regulation for the military. I was now cleanshaven and had retained my blue eye color. I noted that most of my appearance was pretty much the same as my old self with the exception of my better fitness level and a few scars I could account for, but definitely didn't have in my old life. I wondered if I had replaced another's mind in this body or perhaps merged with their consciousness? I hadn't asked exactly what the Man was going to do to me and he wasn't around anymore for me to ask. What I did remember was the mission. I had been recruited and I knew that Monday morning, I was going to report to Cheyanne Mountain on the orders of General West for a special assignment. I could make an educated guess for what that assignment was, but for now, I had to readjust to my situation if I wanted to avoid arising anyone's suspicions with odd behavior on my part.

I had woken up alone in a hotel room and had fortunately had a whole weekend to come to grips with my new appearance and physique. I had spent most of that first day walking around my hotel room, stretching and examining myself in the mirror as well as my personal belongings. I didn't see anything that initially surprised me, since I 'knew' what to expect from my implanted memories but coming to grips that this was my new reality was what took the longest.

I ordered out from the hotel phone and watched the news to reacquaint myself with the culture and general state of the world. I was back in 1994 and it was quite the shock to see the world without all the same technologies and conveniences I had grown used to in the 21st century. For example, I had to keep stopping myself from looking for my cellphone every time I put my hand in my pocket.

Currently, we were seated inside a conference room located within the Cheyenne Mountain Military base, currently the home of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) which was a joint American/Canadian organization dedicated to the security of North American airspace. Its historic task was as the watchman for the threat of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union which had never occurred in this universe either.

Cheyenne Mountain contained numerous floors stretching underground. While the full extent of the facility was unknown to me for the moment, I was at least certain of several cafeterias and barracks, at least one gym, a fully equipped infirmary, and several multi-purpose observation rooms. This entire complex was designed to withstand a direct strike from a Cold War-era nuclear missile and then outlast the subsequent nuclear winter. However, with the advancements in missile technology produced by both sides, it was eventually deemed that more modern missiles were capable of breaching and destroying the complex, despite the elaborate construction techniques used to keep it shielded. Since World War 3 never occurred and the Soviet Union collapsed without a shot being fired in anger, the facility served no other purpose than as an extensive monument to the era's conflict. NORAD still operated on the upper floors, but there were already talks about moving everything to the base at Peterson for convenience.

Of course, the facility might just be seeing some further use once the program really goes active. This place will become Earth's new front line once the higher ups realize the scope of what's waiting for us out there.

"Colonel," addressed the General. "After much deliberation, we have chosen you to lead a possible mission for us. Your record as well as recommendations from SOCOM assures me that you are more than fit to lead the team we have chosen."

My records had all been in place to match up with the memories I had implanted in my mind. My own personnel file had been among my personal belongings when I had woken up and had revealed to me the scope of the training and experience I had to draw upon now. The memories felt…artificial to me, but I was adapting to them. I had been trained as a member of the US Air Force's Pararescue forces or 'PJs' as we were referred to as, with a slew of other training schools under my belt. I was thoroughly impressed with the new knowledge I had in me of the brutal training as well as the numerous missions I could 'recall' of myself and my colleagues going out into the most dangerous parts of the world on rescue operations and extraction missions. I had also been assigned to various other branch's special forces teams including Marine Special Operations, Green Berets, Army Rangers and the infamous SEALs as a rescue specialist. I had a wealth of 'experience' at my disposal for how the armed forces worked and in varying fields of combat, but I was still skeptical how well that implanted knowledge would play out in the real world. I still felt like myself and was hoping that I was going to make the right choices.

Much of my time this last weekend had also been spent thinking about what I remembered and how I could change what was to come or whether I even should. I could definitely feel certain gaps in my knowledge and I was certain most of those were purposefully made by Oma or the Man when I had been dropped here. I tried to make a timeline of events as I recalled them, but I felt as if blocks had been placed in my mind where trying to remember certain information led to a sudden drop off in my own mind. For example, I could recall that there were means out there that could be used to time travel via Ancient technology, but I couldn't remember where they were or how exactly they were used. This would be concerning enough if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't trust my own memory of the show to guide me on its own. It had been years since I had watched the show and I fully admitted that my memory wasn't perfect. Bad enough that I was certain of critical knowledge being kept from me, but I also had my own forgetfulness to battle amidst _two lifetimes worth of memories!_

To help myself remember and to also give me something else to focus on, I took some notes for personal reference and to help me sort my thoughts out. I hid them with my personal belongings in a way that I didn't believe anyone would find them unless they knew exactly what they were looking for. I had absolutely no idea what I would do if they were discovered at some point, so I was prepared to destroy the notes if needed. I was confident that I could get it right if I relied upon my memory of the show, but right now when everything felt like it was crashing down on me at once, I certainly appreciated being able to put my thoughts to paper. And at least paper was easier to hide and destroy, even in this much less technological period I had found myself back in. Even in a time when hardcopy was far more common, they still held the virtue of being more easily kept confidential.

"I need you to accompany Dr. Langford here to find Dr. Daniel Jackson. She's said that he's the best at understanding ancient writings. We've tracked him to New York where he's due to give a seminar the day after tomorrow. Major Charles Kawalsky will accompany you. You leave immediately. Dismissed."

**~SG-WOLF~ **

Catherine and I talked a bit about the project as we got to know one another a bit better on the flight. Major Charles Kawalsky accompanied us was an alright guy as he and I seemed to get along well enough. He had accepted me as squad leader well enough and was happy to have me on board. I could tell he was still feeling upset by the relatively recent death of his longtime friend, Jack O'Neill, but I allowed the man to grieve without bothering him. My own assessment was that he was sad but was moving on in his own way. As the flight landed, I looked out the window to see that we had arrived in Rochester, New York. We caught a small limousine to the Park Plaza Hotel where Dr. Daniel Jackson was going to be part of a series of presentations to the archeological community on new findings and ideas.

I was dressed casually for today and was wearing a black leather jacket over a black t-shirt and a set of blue jeans. I was rather conservative with my clothing choices compared to some of the people I had seen walking outside. I certainly hadn't missed the fashion of the 90's or some of its bizarre trends. Why in God's name were big shoulder pads still considered stylish by women?

The hotel was large and clearly catered to a wealthier class of customer. There were no lecture halls inside but there was a theatre room that was converted into a lecture hall for the day. Kawalsky, Catherine and I walked to the room in question and slipped silently through the door to stand in the back. It seemed Daniel had already started.

"When is the academic community going to accept the fact that the Pharaohs of the fourth dynasty did not build the Great Pyramids." There was a small amount of murmuring at this. The microphone whined a bit as Daniel adjusted it. "Look, inside the pyramids there are no writings whatsoever. And-" here he was interrupted by a member of the audience.

"Doctor Jackson, you've left out the fact that Colonel Vyse discovered inscriptions with Khufu's name inside the Great Pyramid of Giza," the man proclaimed pointedly.

"Ah, his discovery was a fraud," said Daniel while writing on the blackboard behind him. The low murmuring in the lecture hall kicked up a bit at this and a number of the men in the hall seemed to be shaking their heads at him.

"I don't think you'll prove it," replied the same person who spoke up before.

"Well, who do you think built the pyramids then?" injected another.

There was a lengthy pause before Daniel replied. "I don't have any idea who built them, I mean that..." here he was interrupted yet again.

"Maybe people from Atlantis? Or Martians perhaps?" said someone. This got several laughs as several people stood and began to walk out.

"The point is not who built them, the point is when they were built," his words were falling on deaf ears as almost everyone was now beginning to leave. "I mean we all know," continued Daniel as if he didn't know this was happening. "That geological evidence dates the Sphinx back to a much earlier period and knowing this we have to re-evaluate everything we've come to accept about..." By now there was only one person still listening. I'm guessing that he was a friend based on how he was stepping up to speak quietly with Jackson. We decided that we would wait for him in the limo out front.

Outside, it had started to rain. We managed to get inside before the worst of it began to come down. Inside the limo, the back had two sets of seats facing each other. I was in the front while Catherine was facing me in the back. Kawalsky was standing at the entrance of the hotel in his dress uniform while holding an umbrella and waiting for Daniel.

"Well, he doesn't seem particularly popular among his peers," I said, brushing the small amount of water out of my hair.

"He's a rising star in his field and exceptionally qualified. But his theories are too radical for the public to believe," answered Catherine. "It is unsurprising that his audience walked out on him. I recognized many of those men. They would have still been skeptical if he had proposed something far less radical than aliens. They are all too proud to change their minds easily."

"In fairness, he didn't actually say 'aliens' during his presentation," I shrugged. "Still, if he's as good as you say he is, then we could really use his help."

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Jackson appeared out of the entrance of the hotel. He looked around at the sky before he pulled the hood of his raincoat around him and stepped out. Kawalsky got out of our hired limo and called to Daniel. After a few moments he walked over and Kawalsky opened the door. He stepped in and sat down next to Catherine. Kawalsky stayed outside to give us a bit more space inside and to courteously keep his umbrella over Jackson's luggage.

"Hello, Dr. Jackson," greeted Catherine as she pulled out a photo. "Are these your parents?" she asked. She held out a photo of a young couple posing outside of some old building while holding hands and smiling.

Daniel glanced from her to the photograph in her hands, his motion to lower his hood halted for a moment. "Foster parents," he replied. There was a pause. "What is this all about?"

"A new job opportunity," I said. His attention turned to me and I waited as he looked me over a few times.

"I'm Colonel Lennex MacDuff, US Air Force," I introduced as I put forward my hand. He shook it. He paused as he processed what I had just said.

"Your name is Lennex MacDuff?" he asked, seeming disbelieving and amused.

"I get that a lot," I replied, smiling. "Yes, that is my real name. Points to you for catching the Shakespeare reference. The man standing outside is Major Charles Kawalsky," I then gestured to the next to me. "And this is Catherine Langford. We work together."

"Uh... it's nice to meet you," Daniel nodded and turned back to Catherine. "So... what kind of a job?" he asked.

"Translation," answered Catherine. "Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs." She took off her glasses and looked at him. "Interested?"

"I-I'm going to go now," said Jackson, starting to sound a little spooked by our offer.

"Go where?" she laughed humorlessly. "You've just been evicted from your apartment. Your grants have run out. Everything you own are in those two bags." She then picked up a set of papers. "You want to prove your theories are correct? This is your chance." She then handed him the papers.

"What's this?" asked Daniel.

"Your plane ticket and travel arrangements," I replied. "I can't go into detail about what exactly you'll be doing, but I can promise you that not only is it worthwhile, but you also won't regret it."

The door then opened and Kawalsky called out to him. Apparently, Daniel's taxi had arrived to pick him up. Daniel took one last look at us before he got out of the car.

As Kawalsky was seated and we began to drive away, he turned to me. "Do you think he'll accept?"

"I don't know. I hope so." Catherine replied.

"Oh, he'll accept," I said while smirking. "Call it intuition combined with logic, but I've got a good feeling about him."

**~SG-WOLF~**

The phone in my quarters rang. One benefit to being an officer was the sleeping arrangements. Even under the mountain, I was allowed a small, but comfortable room with a desk and a small sitting area and a good bed in the back. It even had a decent mattress too. One slightly annoying factor was how insulated the facility was. Radio signals tended to be blocked and not reach too many places under the mountain to make them convenient for everyone. We still used them, but using the intercom or hardline phones was much easier and much more likely to reach whomever you needed. I realized that in the future, someone was going to have to find room in the budget for radio relays to be installed so that wouldn't be a problem.

I got up from my desk and walked over to the wall mounted phone. Picking up the receiver and placing it to my ear, I answered, "Colonel MacDuff speaking."

"Colonel MacDuff, this is the front admin desk. Dr Jackson has just arrived and will be through security shortly. General West would like for you to escort him down to the cartouche room."

"Understood. On my way," I said before hung up and grabbed my dress uniform cover before exiting and shutting the door behind me. I made my way up to the ground floor and waited next to the elevator. I didn't have to wait long before an SF (Security Forces) airman and Daniel rounded the corner. Saluting smartly, the airman informed me that Dr. Jackson had just passed through security and that his bags were being moved into his assigned quarters.

I returned the salute. "Thank you, airman. I can take it from here."

As the airman departed, I looked to Daniel. He didn't seem like a complete dork, thankfully, but certainly kept to a slightly slumped posture and an overall reserved and nerdy demeanor. His hair was very hippie and stopped just above his shoulders. I recalled how it made him look rather wimpy in the early days of the show and he did himself a favor when he finally got it cut. I then smirked as I thought of what this nerd would achieve in the next few years.

"Welcome to Cheyanne Mountain, Dr. Jackson," I greeted as I shook his hand in greeting. I pressed the button to open the doors and we both got inside the elevator. "So, how was your trip here? No problems I hope?" I asked.

Daniel was about to answer when he sneezed loudly. "Sorry," he said as he pulled out a hanky. "Allergies. Always happens when I travel."

"Sucks," I remarked as he wiped his nose. We made idle chatter the rest of the trip down.

We arrived at level B28 and walked out of the elevator to the main civilian working area. As soon as we approached the doors to the cartouche room, Daniel was approached by Dr. Gary Meyers. He was the scientist that had been trying, unsuccessfully, to translate the symbols on the cover stones found on top of the Giza Stargate.

"Dr Jackson!" he called, gaining our attention. "Dr Gary Meyers; how are you?" he asked.

"Oh, hello," Daniel replied as we continued to head to the room with the cover stones and cartouche. "What is this place?" he asked me.

"It's the Cheyenne Mountain Military base; the home for NORAD. The floor we are on however is many floors beneath the actual NORAD and used to be a bunker that stored missile testing equipment and all the necessary supplies for a fallout bunker. All of the ordinance was moved out awhile back, so it was just a big, empty bunker until someone figured it would work fine to house the project. Still, mums the word about how much space is actually down here," I supplied before another scientist, Dr Barbara Shore, butted in.

"I'm Barbara Shore, hi," she said.

"Hello," Daniel replied.

We then reached the room and I pushed open the doors to show Daniel the cartouche he would be working on until he cracked the mystery and was allowed to see the stargate proper.

Daniel was immediately mesmerized by the stones and the hieroglyphs carved into them. He slowly approached the stones, taking in everything. At that point, Catherine joined us to welcome him.

"Afternoon, Catherine," I greeted. I then tapped on Daniel's arm to get his attention back for a moment. He reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the cartouche and turned to the old woman.

"Hello Jackson," she smiled.

"Hey! Hello," he replied before turning back to the stones. "This is... where did you find this?" he asked, still awed by what he was seeing.

Catherine chuckled at Daniel's childlike wonder. "Giza Plateau, 1928," she replied.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Daniel said.

"Of course you haven't. No one has," she replied with another laugh.

"Now there are two lines of hieroglyphs," Meyers said, looking eager to show off his knowledge to the new guy. "Now the inner track has the classic figures, but the outer track is like the cartouche in the center. It's got writing unlike anything we've ever found before."

"Those aren't hieroglyphs. Might be some form of hieratic or maybe cuneiform," Daniel mumbled to no-one in particular.

"Uh, yeah," agreed Shore, though it sounded like he was just copying Daniel in order to sound like he knew what he was doing.

Daniel then moved over to the blackboard and studied the writings on it for a moment. "Well, the translation of the inner track is wrong. Must've used Budge. I don't know why they keep reprinting his books." He then began to rub out some of the translated words.

"Ex-excuse me. Wha-what are you doing? We've used every known technique," protested Meyers.

Daniel pointed to one of the untranslated hieroglyphs. "That's a curious word to use, isn't it? 'Quebeh'?" he asked.

"Yeah...?" Meyers replied dubiously.

"Then an adverbial sedjem-en-ef with a cleft subject. Then 'Sealed and buried.'" Daniel continued to translate while crossing out a few pre-translated words. Much to my own amusement, the chalkboard was starting to resemble a harshly graded paper and Meyers making faces like he was the nervous student.

"E-excuse me! Wha-what are you doing?" Meyers repeated, obviously very flustered as that was his work that Daniel was erasing, crossing out and re-translating.

"That's not coffin...'For all time.' Who the hell translated this?" Daniel eventually asked, turning around.

Catherine, Shore and I looked at Meyers with deadpan expressions.

"Uh...I, I did," Meyers said, though without the superior tone he was using only a minute ago.

Daniel sighed. "Well, this should read: 'A million years into the sky is Ra, sun god, sealed and buried for all time...' It's not 'door to heaven'," he wrote the final translation at the bottom:

Stargate

"Stargate," Daniel finished.

I smiled at the show. Apart from being exactly how I remember it, thus confirming everything was still more or less on track, it was rather amusing to see Daniel just show up and blow his new coworkers out of the water.

"Well, so why is the military so interested in 5,000-year-old Egyptian tablets?" Daniel asked in a slightly cheerful and curious tone.

"Actually, our carbon dating puts it at 10,000 years old," I replied.

"Seriously? 10,000 is ludicrous. I mean, Egyptian culture didn't even exist at that point," Daniel replied in a shocked tone.

"We know. But the carbon tests don't lie. At least as far as we know. We double checked it just to be sure. It's at 10,000 years," I replied.

"Well, these are cover stones. Was there a tomb underneath?" he asked.

"Well it-" I replied before Kawalsky, who had just entered the room, whispered something into my ear.

"General West has just put you in charge of Project Giza. It is no longer under Catherine's jurisdiction," he said.

"Shit. This is going to piss her off," I whispered back. I understand where West was coming from with this, even if I didn't particularly like it. He had come onto the project recently and didn't care too much for the amount of authority Catherine had as the civilian lead. The government was pouring a lot of money and resources into this project and wanted more of a say in how it was run. Really, Catherine only technically owned the cartouche and that had been unofficially donated to the program with the stargate itself by her father. It was her expertise, influence and a bit of courtesy on behalf of the Air Force that had kept her as co-head of Project Giza. West just wasn't willing to extend that courtesy anymore.

"Sorry, but that information just became classified." I then looked back at Kawalsky. "From now on, no information is to be passed on to non-military personnel without my express permission. If you'll excuse us," Kawalsky nodded before we left the room together.

We had gotten half way down the hall when I heard Catherine calling to me. I looked at Kawalsky. "I'll catch up with you later. Make sure word gets around." He nodded before leaving the two of us.

"Lennex, I think you owe me an explanation," she said, clearly not pleased.

"Sorry Catherine, but I just got orders that Project Giza is under my jurisdiction now. It goes beyond me to have made that decision," I explained.

"But why is the military now in charge? They were perfectly content with me heading the project before, so what has changed?" she asked.

"It's in case you succeed," I replied simply. "West has the pull with the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs to get his way on this. You'll still be heading the civilians, but final word will be going to the military side from here on out. Don't worry though, you'll stay in the loop. I promise." I then walked away, leaving her standing in the corridor alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter Three: "Travel to Exotic Locations..."

I was standing outside of the briefing room with the main military and civilian members all gathered inside. Today, we were all waiting for Daniel. It had been two weeks since Daniel had begun working on the cartouche translations. I had gotten a call from him in the middle of the night declaring he had it figured out. For appearance's sake, I had asked him if he was sure or needed time to check, but he was certain. I had then notified General West's secretary and a meeting was arranged for the next day. A representative from the Pentagon was flying out, so we were waiting for him to show up to begin the briefing.

At least, we were for him. He had arrived a few minutes ago and now we were just waiting for Daniel. I had sent Kawalsky to go get him about 20 minutes ago, so hopefully, he'll be here soon. I was just about to go and find out why the hell they were taking so long when the two rounded the corner and headed for the briefing room; Daniel loaded down with a multitude of posters, papers and a few other things.

"Hey there. We were wondering where you'd wandered off to. Everyone's already inside and ready to hear you out," I greeted him before getting a good look at some of the things he had in his hands. "You sure you need all of that?" I asked. He had his arms full with a number of large papers that even while rolled up, still seemed like a struggle for him to hold onto without dropping anything.

"Yeah, of course," he replied.

"Alright, then." I shrugged. I held the door open for him since he was definitely going to have trouble doing it himself with his arms loaded down like that.

General West was attending the briefing and was standing at the head of the table speaking to one of the other officers. Beside the entrance to the briefing room was Catherine with the other civilian doctors, the Pentagon representative whose nametag identified him as Captain Jameson as well as a few other assorted officers and aides spread around the table and already in their seats.

"Jackson, I'd like you to meet General West," Catherine introduced the general. I hadn't realized that West hadn't met with Daniel yet. Not surprising once I considered that the man was rarely if ever seen in the mountain since he was typically working at his office over at Peterson Air Force Base. Daniel shook his hand and said hello to a few others as he put his stuff down and we all took our seats.

"So, Doctor, you think you've solved in fourteen days what they couldn't solve in two years?" the general asked.

Daniel blinked. "Two years?" he asked. Catherine and the scientists looked a little embarrassed at this. Understandable, considering that the rest of them were supposed to be experts themselves and were completely stumped by the cartouche.

"Any time," West replied sarcastically, waving a hand for Daniel to proceed.

"Um, I have some stuff for you to look at," Daniel began, sounding very nervous. He began to pass out his posters to everyone. "Just, um, pass-pass them down. Um, you'll have to share them, cause I, um... Sorry, I- Sorry, I don't have enough of those. But, anyway..." By now almost everyone had a picture to reference from, even though a number of people were sharing charts.

Daniel cleared his throat and now he sounded much more confident. "Okay, alright, now, we're obviously looking at a picture of the cover stones. Now, on the outer track, these figures that you would believe to be words to be translated were, in fact..." here he got up and unrolled the largest poster he had brought with him, "were in fact, star constellations. Now these constellations were placed in a unique order forming a map or an address of sorts. Seven points to outline a course to a position."

Now he moved over to a whiteboard and began to draw a diagram that would explain how each symbol in the address would correspond in space.

"And uh... to find a destination within any three-dimensional space, you need six points to determine the exact location."

"You said you needed seven points?" West asked.

"Well, no, six for the destination. But to chart a course, you need a point of origin," Daniel explained.

"Except there's only six symbols in the cartouche," Meyers spoke up.

"Well, the seventh actually isn't inside the cartouche, it's just below it," he pointed to the sketch of the cartouche that was also tacked onto the board. He began to draw on it for better explanation. "Here, designated by a little pyramid with two funny… neat little guys and funny little line… coming out of the top."

Here he paused and seemed to sense the atmosphere of the room to his small joking tone as he explained the picture. "Anyway...uhm," he broke off, a little embarrassed.

"He did it," Catherine simply said.

"No. That symbol isn't anywhere on the device," Meyers protested.

"Uh-what device?" Daniel asked, confused.

General West looked at me. I nodded my head. "I say we should show him, General. I think he deserves to know by now." West nodded at my suggestion.

"Congratulations, Dr. Jackson. Welcome to the inner circle," I grinned as Kawalsky positioned himself next to the button that was next to the whiteboard. I walked over to the young archaeologist as Kawalsky pushed the button, which raised the whiteboard up, showing a window. We looked through the window, and Daniel's eyes widened.

There, standing upright at the bottom of a missile silo, was a large metal ring. It measured precisely 6.7 meters in diameter and weighed in at roughly 29 tons. The metal that made up the ring was dark grey in appearance with several amber colored chevrons positioned evenly around the outer edge. Within the ring were glyphs that were built into an inner ring. A metal ramp had been built in front of it and various personnel were working around it.

"What is that?" he asked me in an awed tone.

"It's the Stargate. We just called it 'the Device' or 'the Artifact' before you translated it. 'Stargate' however, seems to be catching on pretty well, so you can pat yourself on the back for that one as well." I smiled at him. I then placed my hand on his shoulder to guide him away from the window. "C'mon Jackson. Let's see if we can find our missing symbol."

One level down was the control center for the Stargate. The place was filled with computer equipment and blinking lights. A bunch of it was clearly still dated from when this was a missile testing silo and nobody had bothered to replace it yet.

"Monitors up!" Myers ordered as he walked ahead of us.

"Monitors are up," a female technician confirmed as Daniel and I looked around.

"Mitch, you want to bring up the details on the center monitor, please," Myers continued to order.

Mitch flipped a few switches, bringing the main gate diagnostics onto the main viewing monitor. It showed a computer traced image of the Stargate with seven blank boxes to the right. The status of the gate was also shown as 'idle'.

The gate outside began to slowly spin to the right first. This was the first time I had seen the gate start up and so my eyes were glued to the scene. I could tell that Daniel was just as entranced by the show as I was.

I looked to the lower right of me where I saw a screen showing a close-up of one of the chevrons, and the symbols passing through it. As soon as the Earth symbol showed up on the screen, Daniel called 'stop.' Then, after liberating a whiteboard marker from nearby, he began to draw the 'missing' parts next to the symbol on the screen, much to the objection of the technician at that station.

Daniel began to speak as he finished his drawing; "Two figures on either side, praying beside a pyramid with the sun directly above it." He finished and recapped the marker.

"Very nice," I grinned.

"He's right. It was in front of us the whole time," muttered Myers in amazement.

"Don't feel too bad about it, Myers. Jackson is apparently on a whole other level compared to the rest of us." I smirked at Daniel, who smiled back, embarrassed by the comment.

I decided it was time to move things along. "So, now that we've got ourselves an address, what say we dial it up?" I asked, quoting from the TV show.

"'Dial it up'?" Myers asked.

"Yeah. Just like a telephone," I replied.

"It really is if you think about it," Shore agreed.

Meanwhile Catherine had picked up a phone and had called the room full of officers still in the briefing room above us. "General West, Jackson has identified the seventh symbol," she reported. She listened and a moment later, nodded and hung up. "General West says to go ahead."

As soon as that order was issued, techs bustled around everywhere, flipping switches and turning knobs. The Stargate began to turn, faster than before as the coordinates were now locked into the system. The female tech from before typed away at her computer terminal. "Programming the seventh symbol into the computer," she reported. "Chevron One is holding." The gate slowed down and the first chevron lit up as a hollow metal triangle slid over the symbol, paused for a moment before slipping back. "Chevron One is locked in place." The gate then began to spin in the opposite direction.

"Power output at 23%," Mitch informed.

"Chevron Two is holding. Chevron Two is locked in place."

"Holding at 35%," Mitch continued to convey.

At this point, the technicians in the gate room began to evacuate. Spare gear was grabbed as people left and the blast doors were sealed behind them.

"You said it was _under_ the cover stones?" Daniel asked in amazement.

"Yes. My father found it in 1928. Made out of a mineral unlike any found on Earth," Catherine explained.

"Chevron Five locked in place."

"79%." At this point the entire room began to vibrate.

"Chevron Six is holding. Chevron Six is locked in place."

"This is as far as we have ever been able to get," Catherine said, having to raise her voice over the loud shaking of the entire room. The computer monitors started going crazy with output data as the seventh chevron was dialed — the Earth point of origin. By now, the shaking had grown so severe, the technicians had to hold down objects on the consoles around them to prevent them from falling. Still, a few pens and papers fell, but nobody picked them up as we were all too busy looking at the Stargate, waiting for something to happen.

"Chevron Seven is..." A conductor clamped to the gate fired off sparks and smoke and a light haze quickly filled the gate room. "Chevron Seven is locked in place!"

At that point, I and everyone else watched as bright shimmering rush of energy shot out of the inner ring of the gate, collided at the middle and blasted out. It was as if someone underwater was observing a heavy object impacting the surface and sink quickly.

The blast pushed out from the gate perhaps five or six meters before it froze and retreated backward to the ring, slowly. On the other side of the gate, cameras showed a large horizontal whirlpool stretching back to nearly touch the back wall. The effect didn't last for very long as the energy stabilized into a rippling puddle of shimmering light.

_'My God,'_ I thought.

Watching the movie or TV series could even come close to what I was seeing and feeling right now as I just stood there, completely entranced, viewing my first successful connection of a Stargate. It filled me with that sense of wonder and pride that I was standing here among these people, witnessing this moment.

In this place, in this moment, I felt content. Whatever may come and whatever suffering I endure, it will all be worth it. I could feel the weight of the future bearing down on me with its enormous responsibilities, but I couldn't bring myself to care right now. Perhaps it was somewhat foolish of me as I knew this wasn't a game or a fantasy, but a real situation with real people and real consequences, but right now, I felt like I had this.

'_We can do this. _I_ can do this. Our next great adventure starts now,'_ I thought. Dramatic? Perhaps, but the moment was fitting to the thought.

We all stood there for perhaps another twenty or thirty seconds, mesmerized by the scene, before West came over the intercom ordered that a probe be sent in. Within a minute, a team of heavily armed SFs entered the gate room with several technicians getting to work on setting up a probe to go through the Stargate. It looked like an early model of the MALPs the SGC would use later on with treads, sensors and a robotic manipulator arm on the top. The security forces guys always kept their weapons trained on the Stargate, which was a credit to their professionalism, even if I knew it was unnecessary as the Stargate only worked in one direction when dialed.

Soon the probe rolled off the platform it was on, turned onto the ramp and tread on up onto it. The squad left the room with the technicians, leaving the probe alone with the Stargate.

We all watched while holding our breath as the probe continued its way up the ramp and stopped in front of the puddle-like surface of the gate. The arm on top unfolded and extended forward. into the event horizon. The arm submerged itself fully before the whole probe was driven forward and disappeared into the wormhole.

Data began to stream in as the computers tracked the route of the probe. "It's guiding itself. Can you believe it?" Shore asked in surprise. My eyes were drawn to the large transparent star chart off to one side and I watched as a tracker device moved across the chart to provide reference to the probe's location. Sol system was in the center of the map and clearly labeled for a point of reference as the tracker stretched out to the right, slowly rising up to the top right corner before coming to a stop.

Shore got to work trying to find out where the probe was going. "The thing has locked itself onto a point somewhere... in the Kaliam galaxy."

_'Impossible,'_ I thought to myself. _'Abydos can't be more than 1000 light years away. It's one of if not the closest Stargate ours can lock on to as stellar drift would have been relatively minor over the last 10,000 years and well within our gate's buffer,' _I thought. _'It'll have to update now that the network has registered that this gate has gone active again._' I remembered that being a logical sticking point for the show.

"It has mass. I-it could be a moon or a large asteroid," the female tech, Jenny, theorized.

"Or it could very well be another planet. I doubt that whoever or whatever built this thing would have it directed to somewhere that didn't matter," I added.

"Where are we on that map?" Daniel asked.

"According to these numbers; roughly one billion light years away," I replied, even knowing that that had to be an error. The movie might have gotten away with that, but once the show came along, it was easily retconned as our computers being unable to handle this new type of calculation.

"That's right, Jackson. It's on the other side of the known universe," Catherine finished off as Daniel looked in wonder at the distance on the map.

"Wait, we're-we're losing the signal!" Jenny announced before the wormhole disconnected and the gate room was plunged into silence.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"This is the information the probe sent back to us," General West explained as the monitor we were looking at showed several still images which displayed a room and the Stargate on the other end. "We froze and enhanced several of the images. You can clearly see the gate on the other side. Both gates must have functioned as a doorway between our worlds."

"I spoke with several of the scientists downstairs a minute ago. They and I find it pretty unlikely that the other gate is a billion lightyears away. We don't know too much about the power requirements for the stargate to activate, but we can make the logical assumption that greater distances require more power to create and maintain a connection. The amount of energy it would require to establish and maintain such a long-distance connection would have almost certainly melted the superconductor clamps right off the gate and probably sucked our generators dry. I think we can safely assume that this gate is located somewhere in the Milky Way galaxy and not halfway across the known universe. It's more likely we just haven't figured out how to accurately measure the journey the probe took, yet," I theorized aloud.

This was also a calculated speculation on my part. While I was happy to dispel some incorrect information to help move us along a bit quicker, it was also helpful to establish myself as a reasonably intelligent person using my knowledge of how this universe generally functions. I couldn't ever be a Sam Carter or a Rodney McKay, but letting people think I was worth listening to could seriously benefit me down the line if and when I started making slight changes. O'Neill may have been content to be the dufus and never play up his own intelligence, but he and I had different plans in mind for this program.

"I agree," Myers concurred. "I doubt we would have ever made the connection at all if the gate was at the coordinates that we measured. We still don't know enough about the Stargate to make accurate measurements in terms of distance. But, like the colonel said, 'yet.'"

"These readings tell us it's definitely an atmospheric match. Barometric pressure, temperature, and most importantly, a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere," Jameson, one of the General's advisors, stated. "It also appears that the gate is located inside some sort of structure on the other side. When we panned the camera around, we noticed what appeared to be stone walls and some sort of incline leading out of the room the gate is located in."

Daniel was intently studying the monitor that was showing the gate symbols on the other side. "These markings are different. They don't match the symbols on our gate," he noted.

"That's why we may have to abort. This project is for naught without a reconnaissance mission," West stated.

Jackson looked a little confused, so Jameson explained. "Once on the other side, we'd have to decipher the markings on the gate there and, essentially, dial home in order to bring the team back. We charted the flow of energy the gate created when the probe went through and noted that the flow only ever went in one direction. We don't know what would happen if someone tried to come back the wrong way, but even our best estimates say nothing good. So, unless the team makes a successful connection from their end, they won't be coming back."

"Based on this new information, I don't see how we can justify taking that risk," the General said.

"Well, I can do that," Daniel spoke up.

We all looked at him. Kawalsky and I giving him a small smile as it meant our mission may not be scrubbed after all. We had chatted briefly over the possibilities of what we could find on the other side and I was happy to hear he and the rest of the team were as excited as I was to go find out.

"Doctor, are you sure?" West asked.

Daniel looked back to the screen for a moment before he turned back to us. "Positive," he nodded.

I looked at the General. "That's good enough for me and the rest of my team, sir," I said. He nodded at me before looking back at Daniel. "You're on the team."

**~SG-WOLF~**

The briefing broke up and everything descended into organized chaos as the final preparations were made. All of the necessary equipment and personnel were already here on site for if and when a successful connection was made. All that was left now was to make final checks and get this mission on the road.

Before I went to get my own gear sorted, I had one last stop to make. I went to the elevator and took it down to the lowest level possible. Then, I went down several corridors and descended a few ramps into the storage areas kept at the very lowest levels of the base. Down here, security was fairly light and mostly automated, with one notable exception.

I walked up to the airman guarding the blast door leading to what was once a small armory. I presented my identification to him and then he swiped his own access card, allowing me to pass.

Inside and hung against the back of the room were the fossilized and crushed bodies of two Horus Guard Jaffa.

When the gate had been pulled out of the sand, these two bodies were found lying beneath it. This information was kept from the rest of the civilian personnel and most of the military ones under the name of security. I'd never asked her since I was ordered not to discuss it with anyone, but I was certain that Catherine knew about these bodies as well. She would have been just a little girl when the gate was uncovered, but her father wouldn't have had any way of hiding this from her or the other diggers who were present.

I had wondered a bit about these two when I had first been briefed by West. It had occurred to me that they shouldn't have been able to reach Earth at all if the cover stones had been blocking the gate while it was buried under dozens of feet of sand, rock and dirt. Any one of those in enough quantities should have been sufficient to keep a wormhole from forming, although I had wondered if the sand alone would have done the trick. I had no way to verify it, but I figured that these guys had either gotten trapped on this side when the rebellion went down against Ra and were subsequently executed by being buried/crushed under the cover stones, or had gated to Earth sometime between Ra leaving and the gate being buried. They would have likely been taken unawares by the human rebels and then thrown into the newly dug hole the gate was going into. If they were lucky, they'd have already been dead when the hole was being filled.

I could hear footsteps behind me and turned my head slightly to see that General West had joined me in the secured room. We both stood there examining the fossils in silence until West spoke.

"We have no idea if they're still out there," he remarked. "That is why I'm entrusting you with keeping us safe if it's as bad as we think."

I nodded but didn't say anything. West had discussed this with me previously and had expressed his terror at what may still be out there. He wasn't an idiot and he actually raised a few good points. If I didn't already know much more than him on the subject, I'd be justifiably terrified too. However, it was his determination to destroy the Stargate at ANY indication of alien life that I strongly disagreed with. Under a different general or one with less backing, I might have decided to tell the full truth if and when we returned from this mission. Unfortunately, I was supremely confident that West would still insist on nuking the other side of the gate and then burying or destroying ours. Even putting aside the terrible crime of slaughtering all of those people on Abydos, not having our gate active would screw us all over down the line. I could see where Jack O'Neill got the same notion in his head that he had to lie to protect Daniel and the people of Abydos.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Four hours later, everything had been packed and was loaded onto a remote controlled, mechanized rover. I wore the military standard flak jacket body armor with all the pockets and pieces on it. However underneath it I wore a light and loose shirt so I wouldn't roast myself when on the other side. I had a helmet with the rest of my gear, but as a colonel, I chose to use my authority to not wear it and instead, wore the maroon beret with the pararescue patch proudly displayed on the front. It wouldn't protect me from a staff blast, but I didn't appreciate the extra weight of the helmet if it wasn't going to help keep me safe.

My MP5 was slung and secured under one arm with plenty of extra ammo stashed both on my person and on the rover we would be bringing with us. I hadn't felt the need to change much of the gear except to insist on a few extra weapons that we could get away with bringing with us. Ideally, I would have gotten us a few more heavy weapons, but we weren't supposed to be engaging much of anything since we were a recon team. West had denied my request for heavier ordinance, but I did manage to swing bringing some spare MP5s and Berettas with the gear, 'just in case.'

As I walked past my team and inspected their gear one last time, I was nervous as hell. I had never actually led a team like this before. Despite the knowledge dump by the Man or Oma, whichever and however they had left me with this knowledge, I sure as hell didn't feel like I was ready for this. These men had all seen far more combat than I ever had, although they didn't know that.

Dammit, I was being struck by indecision again. If I'm going to lead this team, it'd be as myself and not any other way. I was their commanding officer, but I was still me. I wasn't going to be pretending to be anyone else while I was out there. I'd fail just by trying and I'd be constantly lying to myself in the process. I was going to do this my way and nobody else's. If someone out there had a problem with that, then they could take it up with me in person.

Now, perhaps a bit of humor could set everyone at ease?

"Alright gentlemen, you all better have used the restroom before we depart. God help the first man here who asks to relieve himself before we get there," I said and this was met with a few laughs from the team. "Also, if any of you have something inspiring or profound to say, now's the appropriate time to say it."

There was a loud sneeze and we all turned to see Daniel blowing his nose on a hanky he had pulled out of his pocket.

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Jackson. Well said," I smirked, getting a few more laughs from my team. "You all know your jobs. Watch each other's backs, think before you touch and for God's sake, think before you shoot. We're making history here today, so let's try not to do anything too memorable, alright? Just think of all those free drinks and meals you'll miss out on if you're too embarrassed to mention your role in this mission one day!"

This brought some big smiles and hearty laughter from everyone, even Daniel who still looked a bit awkward standing next to all these career soldiers. I gave them all one last look before walking to the end of the line. There was myself of course, Major Kawalsky, Lieutenant Brown, Lieutenant Ferretti, Master Sargent Freeman and Master Sargent Riley. Daniel was our 'plus one' for this mission and made a total of seven men. These men had been selected for the initial recon by General West and his staff and I had gotten to meet with them in the weeks leading up to the mission. They were all professionals and knew their jobs well, which is why I was glad to have them all along.

I activated the blast door leading to the gate room and watched as the steel door opened. We all walked out and came face to face with the active Stargate. Since I was first in line, I walked up the ramp and stood behind the rover; everyone else standing in a line behind me. If I was going to have these men take a risk, it was important that they saw that I was taking it right along with them. I looked at the event horizon and found myself marveling at the beauty of it once again. I then turned to Lieutenant Brown and nodded for him to pilot the rover through ahead of us.

After the rover went through, my team and I walked up to the gate and I stopped a foot away from it. I felt so in awe of what this meant and what I was seeing before me; it really felt like the real beginning to everything. It felt as if everything else was just the prologue and that once I took the next step, I would really have begun to take up my new role in this universe.

I reached out and felt the energy with my bare hand. The feeling that I received was unlike anything I had ever felt before. If I had to describe it, it felt like liquid metal or like how I imagined dipping my hand into a pool of mercury would feel like. Like water, but heavier and slightly clingy although nothing was actually sticking to my skin. Such a strange feeling. I could feel it tugging at my fingertips, so I pulled back.

"Well...let's get to it," I said before I raised my foot and took the last step-no, MY next step, forward.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 4: "Meet Interesting people..."

I watched as my perception warped and twisted. At first, there was a brief instant where it seemed like the stars stretched. Then, I shot forward at speeds that must have been billions of times faster than light. There was some sort of light trail around me that rippled and pulsed as I seemingly accelerated through space. Perhaps they were stars or stellar objects, but lights flashed past me at such speeds it was like I was swerving through traffic at night, but on the wrong side of the road. I couldn't feel a thing as this continued for several seconds before ending abruptly in a bright flash of light. I was suddenly on the other side, stumbling into a large and dark stone room. I felt myself gasp for air like I had just come up from under a body of water and my heartbeat kicked up as my system felt a rush of adrenaline was needed after the transition.

The rover was sitting a few meters away from the gate and providing some much-desired illumination into the room, but not much. The gate was still active behind me and giving off plenty of light, but that wouldn't last for long. I felt coldness on my face and extremities and it wasn't until I looked down at my hands and felt my face that I realized that I had frost deposits covering parts of me and that I was freezing cold. I rubbed at my face and arms to help get the feeling back into those parts of my body as my teammates started to come through behind me. Brown came first and stumbled as he started gasping for air.

"Whoa, woah! It's ok," I said, catching him as he stumbled on the floor. After a few seconds he was ok and standing fine on his own. I repeated this process for pretty much each of my teammates who all had more or less the same reaction and seemed like they were going to be fine. By the time Daniel came through, everyone was mostly recovered from the trip, though Kawalsky was still a little dizzy.

"Jackson! It's ok, just breathe! The vertigo will wear off in a minute. Brown, he's yours," I said. I had discussed it with Brown some time ago that he'd be babysitting Daniel and making sure nothing too terrible happened to him. I moved down the line of soldiers and made sure everyone was recuperating and still with me.

"Ferretti, you ok?" I asked. He had taken a knee and was breathing deeply off to one side.

"What a rush," he replied before he got to rubbing the frost on his face off.

I took a quick headcount and verified that everyone looked a bit shaken but was seemingly alright. I snapped my head back around as I realized something.

"Heads up, people! We need to light some more flares! That gate is gonna shut off soon," I ordered. Riley, Ferretti and Freeman each pulled out flares, and not a second too late as the gate shut off, with the only light from the flares now firing.

"Alright, two-man teams, advance forward and clear. Let's go," I said. The team took a moment to register my orders and process where their partners were before they sprang into action and began advancing through the chamber towards the exit at the far side.

We made our way forward and down a corridor where light was emitting from the end. I looked up at one point to see the ring platform above me and built into the ceiling.

'_Gonna have to remember that one for later,' _I thought.

We entered the next room, which was lit by the natural light streaming in from the outside of the structure. Large stone pillars lined the sides of the room and two pairs of my men each covered the corners My team continued to scout the area and clear the corners while I walked forward, my MP5 at my shoulder and ready to fire.

"Clear. No contact," Lieutenant Reilly reported.

"Brown, check the atmospheric conditions outside," I said.

Brown took the handheld reader and walked forward to the entrance. After a moment the readings came back. "Conditions are similar to inside," the lieutenant replied.

"Alright, then let's poke our noses out and see what we can see. Ferretti, Brown, Daniel? You're with me. " I said. The two soldiers moved forward and into the outside. I walked outside too and took a look around. It was all desert. We walked down the ramp, past the two stone obelisks at the end and out further into the sand. I then turned around and I could feel my jaw drop at the sight of what we'd just walked out of.

"Jackson? You might want to turn around," I suggested. He did and gave a sudden jolt as he focused on the giant stone pyramid we had just exited and the three moons almost framing the massive structure. I had never seen the pyramids on Earth in person, but somehow, I imagined that this was a far more impressive structure. Great smooth surfaces showing very little of the wear and tear that showed at the ones at Giza. The sun shone on the surface of the structure and painted a truly magnificent sight.

I looked over at Daniel, who had a big smile on his face. "I knew it," he said softly.

**~SG-WOLF~**

After I took a quick look around, I came back to my squad. This structure was truly massive. There was only the one entrance as far as I could see, aside from the rings in front of the gate. I finished walking back to the basecamp we had set up at the base of the ramp leading to the pyramid. It wasn't much beyond a few canvas coverings to create some shade and a few tables for our equipment, but it wasn't supposed to be much. The rest of the team was setting up portable communications equipment and a few scientific scanning devices. Once night came, we were hoping to take in the position of the stars and try to calculate where we were in relation to Earth. It might take a couple of nights since I don't think anyone counted on the existence of three moons. All that extra nighttime illumination would block out a lot of stars.

Of course, I didn't expect we'd get the opportunity, but I couldn't exactly say that when we were packing the gear.

"Is that perimeter sweep done, Kawalsky?" I asked the lieutenant.

"A quarter mile perimeter survey is just about complete, sir. Nothing to report in our immediate vicinity except sand," he replied.

I looked up to see Daniel walking around the base of the front entrance. Even from here I could see confusion in his movements as he kept searching around the exterior since he'd already done the same to the interior.

"Ok. Be ready to pack all this up and get everyone back inside," I said.

"Yes, sir," he replied smartly. "Uh, Colonel?"

"Yeah?"

"You're coming with us, aren't you sir?" Kawalsky asked.

"Sure am," I replied with confidence. "But we'll want all of the more sensitive gear put away and covered before we go back to give a report. Can you imagine how pissed the nerds would be if a sandstorm came along and wrecked all of this? This equipment isn't coming out of my paycheck. How about yours?"

Kawalsky smiled at my answer. "Hell no, sir. I nominate one of the lieutenants for taking on that responsibility. I'd nominate one of the enlisted, but we all know they'd never afford it."

I laughed as that started a playful argument among the rest of the team. Kawalsky was understandably sensitive to loss with the death of O'Neill, so I could forgive him for being wary of the mental state of the rest of his teammates. In my time, suicide was a serious concern for many service personnel and didn't get nearly the proper attention it deserved in spite of all the overtures made through suicide prevention briefings. I certainly wasn't going to come down on Kawalsky for being more attentive of the issue unless it really became a problem.

I cut off my train of thought as Daniel approached us from down the ramp.

"Alright Jackson, about time to start doing your thing on the Stargate," I said, though I knew his answer.

"I-I'm gonna need more time. I mean, there's bound to be more structures here, or some other traces of civilization," he replied.

"Not our job today. Just get us connected up so we can go back through and assure everyone that we're alright," I told him.

"Well, it's not that easy. This is a replica of the great pyramid of Giza. We're not gonna find any hieroglyphic inscriptions or carved reliefs. I mean, we really need to look around more," Daniel insisted as Kawalsky and Ferretti flanked me, interested in what was going on.

"I understand where you're coming from, Jackson. Really, I do. But that's not what this mission is all about. This is strictly a scouting kind of mission to make sure nothing's wrong here so we can let the guys back home know. We'll be back with more people and equipment and run a proper search of the area in a day or two."

Daniel began to nod, but ended up shrugging. "I can't."

There was a moment of silence. "Ok, what do you mean by that?" I sighed.

"I can decipher the symbols on the Stargate, but I need an order of alignment. Now those coordinates were marked on tablets back on Earth and there must be something like that here. And I-I just need to find it," he chuckled nervously, obviously trying to relieve tension.

"Find it? What do you mean, find it? You didn't say anything about 'finding' anything," Kawalsky asked, his tone suggesting he was dangerously close to losing his temper.

"Well, I assumed the tablets would be here, I mean right here," Daniel assured.

"Assumptions are dangerous to use here, Jackson. You should have explained this before we left," I replied before I placed a hand on Kawalsky's shoulder and gripped it tightly to stop him from attacking Daniel. "Ok, Kawalsky. Set up a proper camp down here and organize our supplies. Looks like we're staying for a bit longer than we thought."

"Sir, he-"

"In case it wasn't clear, that was an order, major," I cut him off. He was silent for a moment before he walked past me, with Ferretti following. I could see expressions turning to anger as the two informed the others about the situation.

'_This is going to get worse before it gets better,'_ I thought.

"Jackson," I began speaking. Daniel noticeably gulped as he seemed to sense how he had just fucked up. "Start looking for those symbols. Even if all you can do is work up a good guess, get it done. We'll talk later about the importance of relaying important information to your teammates," I finished with a pointed look.

Daniel nodded nervously and got back to work.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Two hours later, the camp was all set up. I was inside with the rover, setting up the nuke that had been stashed away inside of it instead of on top of it. Kawalsky and the others had just taken the last of the equipment from the rover, so I had taken the opportunity to come in here and prepare my own role in events to come.

I gritted my teeth as I opened the back panel. I took out the casing and set it gently on the top of the rover. I then picked up the detonator, turned it on so a green light began to flash on it and slotted the piece into the top of the cylinder. A few metal cylinders pushed out seconds after that. That meant the bomb was ready to be attached to the detonator.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I had never been more nervous than I was right now. Not even walking through the Stargate for the first time was anything close to the sensation of arming both my first bomb and my first nuke. Intellectually, I knew that these things had been designed to be as idiot proof as possible and that it was nearly impossible to set off by accident. But that didn't help keep my heartrate down as I came to terms with the _freaking nuke_ in my hands.

I then picked up the bottom part and attached it to the main device. I sighed as I finished up before I looked up, hearing someone approaching. I disconnected the detonator, placed the fully assembled nuke back into the hidden compartment and closed the lid as Kawalsky came into view.

"Base camp is set up, sir," he reported. I nodded, hiding the detonator from view.

"Gotcha. I haven't found anything worth cannibalizing from the rover right now, but I'll join you in a minute." I sighed in relief as Kawalsky nodded and left. All finished up, I took my own pack and walked out of the temple back to the camp.

Outside I saw everyone relaxing after the work they had put in setting up the camp. However, there was someone missing from this gathering.

"Where's Jackson?" I asked. Silence answered me, but it was a smug, satisfied silence. I instantly knew what had happened.

I glared at my squad. "Real fucking mature, people. Pick on the one guy who can get us home. I hope you're real fucking proud of yourselves."

The silence stayed, but now everyone wasn't looking too happy with themselves anymore. "Kawalsky, Brown, you're with me. Which way did he go?" They sprang to their feet and followed me while Freeman indicated the direction Jackson went.

We set off and headed over the sizable dune that was located a few yards from our camp. We crested the next dune and saw Daniel interacting with what looked like an off-brand version of a bantha from Star Wars. The creature was chewing on a growth of some sort of desert weed and Daniel was approaching the head as he patted the side of the beast's head.

"I'd be careful about petting that thing," I called to Daniel.

"It's got a harness! It's domesticated!" Daniel called back as he patted the animal's side. However, he apparently patted a little too hard this time and the beast called out and reared up a bit as it pawed at the air and took off, dragging Daniel along with it as his foot had gotten caught in a bit of rope that managed to catch on Daniel's leg.

"Aw, hell!" I cursed as I took off after him, Brown and Kawalsky close behind me. But it was no use. The thing was too damn fast, and our stamina had left us quickly after climbing up and down two dunes. We assumed an easier pace as we followed the tracks in the sand and I made sure Brown and Kawalsky stayed hydrated. It was damn hot out here.

Half an hour of following the trail Daniel and the animal left behind, we came across him being licked awake by the creature. We approached him, but then a loud farting noise came from the beast, along with an extremely foul stench.

"Holy Hell!" I recoiled violently and backpedaled to escape from the stench. Kawalsky and Brown had similar reactions to the smell. We took a long circular path to avoid the smell and reach Daniel from a more upwind position.

"You ok there?" I asked as we reached him. Daniel nodded, but before he could answer, I heard a loud horn go off in another direction. I also hearing a dull roaring noise following it.

"Heads up, guys," I said before I began walking up the next dune. When we got to the top and saw what it was we were hearing, Kawalsky dropped to the ground and went prone as he readied his MP5. Same with Brown, who took a knee instead.

We saw a very large tent that seemed to be made out of many animal hides. In the distance there were giant outcroppings of rock stretching out from the sand like small mountains. And there were also people. At least a thousand people, likely more, were dotting the small mountain with more lined up and ferrying material to the tent and walking back to the stone formation. I pulled out a pair of binoculars and confirmed that the people were mining. There were other tents in the distance near other pillars as well.

"That's some serious mining going on down there," I murmured to no-one in particular.

"Chien pe-ow. Mieu!" one of the workers called out and pointed to us.

"Chien pe-ow. Mieu! Shien mow!" another one continued. I raised my binoculars again and spied the one that was yelling. As it turned out, it was Skaara. He had long black hair in thick dreadlocks and brown eyes, though it was impossible to tell from the distance.

"Well, we're not going to get anything done standing here. Let's go say hi to the locals," I said. We all began walking down the dune towards the camp, Daniel having just joined us. We kept our hands on our weapons, but we were no longer pointing them at anyone.

As we walked down, I saw that it wasn't just the people in this vicinity that had stopped, but everyone in sight. As we got closer to the people, Skaara moved to the front to greet us, or check us out or something. I didn't have my weapon up and ready, but Kawalsky and Brown kept their gripped in front of them.

"Alright Jackson; you wanted to find some sort of civilization and here it is. Time to do your thing," I said, keeping my eyes on the crowd.

"Me?" he asked, suddenly nervous.

"Yes, you! You're the linguist, so get to chatting," I replied, to which Brown snickered softly. Daniel walked forward slowly and said 'hi' to the people present.

"Seriously? As if any of them have heard English before? Any of us could have done that much," I sighed.

The one Daniel approached then looked at him and said, "Na tu duh de-why-ya." He turned around and repeated what he had said to the others, but much louder. Then everyone dropped their tools and began to prostrate themselves on the ground in front of us.

"Was it something you said?" I asked as I walked up next to him.

"I didn't say anything," he replied in a confused manner.

"Yeah, I noticed," I said. "C'mon Jackson, was that really your best effort? Keep this up and I'll be convinced you lied on your resume." Kawalsky and Brown had trouble hiding their laughter and Daniel simply rolled his eyes at me.

I walked forward to Skaara, who raised his head slightly to meet his eyes with mine before ducking back down. "It's ok, kid," I said as I bent down. He slowly looked back up; his eyes full of fear. A part of me felt suddenly sick as I remembered seeing kids with eyes like that when I visited orphanages in less developed countries. I mercilessly squashed that feeling down before it could show on my face. Now was not the time to go through painful memories. I kept a friendly smile on my face as I kept looking at Skaara. "It's ok. Nobody's gonna hurt you, I promise."

I took off my hat to show my whole face to him. I then held out my hand to him and he rose until he stood up on his knees. I grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet. Poor kid looked like he was going to throw up, he was so scared of me. I let go of him and he cried out before taking off across the sand, yelling, "Si misoy. Si misoy! Kasuf! Kasuf!"

"Maybe it was something I said this time?" I replied slowly as I watched him run off. Skaara returned quickly with another of those bantha creatures which had a sheltered cover on top of it. Along with the beast, there was a small crowd of people as well. The beast stopped nearby and the cover was pulled back by an elderly man inside. It was Kasuf, Skaara's dad. He got down and walked over to us. Skaara seemed like he was trying to tell his father something, but Kasuf kept shooing him away for some reason. He then stopped in front of us and spoke at length, indicating himself, the people behind him while holding his staff horizontally in front of him and bowing in a peaceful gesture.

"I can't make it out. It sounds familiar, a bit like Berber. Maybe Chadic or Omotic," Daniel said quietly to me.

"Sounds like he's introducing himself and saying he means us no harm, or something like that," I theorized. It seemed a reasonable assumption based on the man's body language and tone.

Kasuf spoke a command to the people behind him and they all rose up. "Well, I'm glad that's over with. It was making me more than a little awkward," I grinned good naturedly. Kasuf then gave out another loudly whispered command and four women came to the front. One of them was stunningly beautiful. It took me a moment, but I recalled that this was Sha're. Kasuf's daughter, Skaara's sister and Daniel's future wife if this played out right. She was quite the beauty and although most of her was covered, I was betting that she was quite the hottie. Daniel was a lucky man as I saw that she seemed to already have eyes for him.

The women all bowed to us and held out long oval shaped bowls made out of some kind of giant seed. I took mine and sniffed it. Seeing as it didn't smell of anything, I took a cautious taste and confirmed that it was just water. I briefly considered all the contaminants that might be floating around in the water supply of a civilization like this, but just as quickly disregarded it since there was nothing obviously wrong with it and it'd be very rude to refuse.

"Delicious! Thank you," I smiled gently at the one who gave me the water as I handed her back the bowl. She smiled nervously back at me, but quickly broke eye contact and took the bowl from me. I looked around to see the others finishing up with their water as well.

"Oh. Here," Daniel suddenly said and he took out a 5th Avenue chocolate bar from his pack. Kasuf looked very confused as Daniel unwrapped the chocolate and raised it to his face, taking a deep sniff.

"Mmmm!" he said, miming how good it was.

"Ya rab-id yu?" Kasuf asked as he indicated eating. Daniel nodded and gave him the bar. Kasuf hesitated before he sniffed the bar and took a bite. He slowly chewed on the strange texture before his eyes widened.

"Bunni, bunni-wae!" he replied, amazed.

"Bunni-wae?" Daniel repeated in a questioning tone.

"Bunni-wae!" Kasuf said again. He looked at his people with a surprised smile on his face. The effect was slightly ruined by the fact that he had half the candy bar sticking out of his mouth, but it didn't seem to matter to him or any of the others.

"Bunni-wae," Daniel said again, more confidently in his pronunciation.

"What's that mean?" Kawalsky asked.

"I have no idea," Daniel replied distractedly.

"Si plu?" Kasuf asked as he gestured to the side, indicating that he wanted us to follow him.

"He's inviting us to go with him," Daniel explained.

"How can you be so sure?" Kawalsky asked.

"Because he's...," he repeated Kasuf's gesture, "inviting us to go with him." He then turned to me. "We were looking for signs of civilization. Obviously, we found it. You want me to get us back home, then this is our best shot."

"He's right, Colonel," Brown added. "I took some readings of this stuff they're mining back there. It's the same material as the Stargate."

"Say no more, gentlemen," I said. "It's not like we'll be doing much better scratching at that pyramid. Brown, go ahead and radio back to basecamp. Let them know we've made contact with some local humans and to hold down the fort until we get back."

"Yes, sir," he replied before extracting his radio from his belt.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We had been marching back in a large group of those gathered around the tent where we had met Kasuf. Kasuf had tried to offer Daniel the place of honor atop the bantha creature with the covering atop it, but Daniel had politely refused and elected to walk with the rest of us. Kasuf seemed surprised by this and passed the reigns of the beast off to one of the other people in the group before taking place at the head of the column near Daniel. The two of them exchanged a few words on the trip while Daniel tried to overcome the communication barrier.

After about an hour of walking, we crested another dune and Kasuf turned to us and pointed into the distance. "Yu-yu," he said as he pointed ahead of us. I looked up to see a large stone city in the distance.

"About time," I muttered. I really wasn't a fan of the heat. We had already been walking for about an hour and while I surprisingly wasn't the least bit exhausted, which was nice, I wasn't looking forward to keeping this up for long. I had grown up in much colder parts of the US and had never really cared much for the heat.

"Yu liik. Yu-yu," Skaara said as he beckoned us towards the city. Daniel followed but Brown and I stood back a bit as Brown took out a small camera and snapped a photo of the settlement before we followed Daniel. We had brought a few cameras with us and he had fortunately had one on him when we had chased after Daniel.

As we came close to what looked like the main gate to the settlement, Daniel started to sneeze again. This had Kasuf look around in confusion, only to see him go off again. He took out his hanky and blew loudly into it.

"Seriously though; how does traveling make someone sneeze?" I asked in bewilderment to no-one in particular. Daniel stuffed the cloth back into his pocket, only for it to then be stolen unknowingly by one of Skaara's friends who looked too curious for his own good. There was a small amount of arguing between the boy and Skaara over the cloth, to which Sha're giggled in amusement. I chuckled a bit as the argument was won by Skaara in the end, who gave what sounded like a firm rebuke to the other boy. He then tapped Daniel on the shoulder and handed back the now liberated handkerchief with an apologetic smile. Daniel returned the smile and glanced over at Sha're, who noticed the glance and went back to looking ahead of her.

"Enjoying the sights?" I asked him after seeing this.

"What?" he asked me. "N-no, nothing like that."

"Uh huh," I said sarcastically. "Just be careful. The last thing we need is to be chased out of town because the local Grand Poohbah caught you macking on his daughter."

Daniel tried to sputter a response, but I just laughed and gave his shoulder a good-natured slap.

By now, we had finally reached the gates of the city. A stone and timber wall protected the settlement, but seemed to not be a defensive structure and instead seemed to have been built to shield the settlement from wind or maybe wild animals. Basic timber catwalks were strung up above us and linked many of the primitive buildings around us which appeared mostly thatched together with some timber and cloth, making for an interesting blend of huts and tents. Daniel's eyes were all over the place, taking in as many of the sights as possible. Brown, Kawalsky and I kept our eyes open, but it seemed like everyone was being very welcoming to us, even if they weren't looking us directly in the eyes.

As we continued a few dozen more yards into the city, Kasuf was gesturing and giving orders around him. We came to a stop and Kasuf gave one last order before he turned to us, spoke a few words, and began to prostrate in front of us, with everyone following his example. I looked up to see the coverings over a large metal disk move away.

"The Eye of Ra," Daniel said as he walked forward to get a better look. "It's the Egyptian Sun God." I walked up to stand next to him as he spoke. "They think he sent us here."

"Yeah? I wonder what could have given them that idea?" I asked as I reached out and softly tugged at the golden pendant around his neck. Daniel looked down and saw me handling the necklace with the Eye of Ra on it.

"Ah!" he replied in understanding. He then bent down to Kasuf. "Ra," he said, pointing to the disk. Kasuf warily looked up. "Ra?" Daniel asked before a loud horn sounded off from the top of the wall. Everyone then began to rise and run around with a purpose.

"What's going on?" Kawalsky asked.

I was interrupted before I could answer when Brown's radio started squawking. He pulled it out and tried to get a response. "Come in." However, it seemed there was too much interference for a signal to get through. "Again. Say again. Ferretti, I can't hear you." He turned to me and handed the radio off to me. "Sir, I can't make this out."

I turned on the radio, but all I could hear was loud static. It was impossible to hear anything other than that. "Ferretti, this is MacDuff. Can you repeat your last?" I spoke into the radio, but no dice. I was only getting static at this point.

Kasuf then barked an order at the people standing over the gate we had just walked through. He clapped his hands once and several guys began to close the gate.

"Sir?" Kawalsky asked, his hand on his weapon.

"Wind's picking up and comms aren't working. With how they're all acting, it looks like there's a sandstorm coming. We definitely won't be able to make it back until it dies down," I explained. In response Kawalsky and Brown relaxed. I then watched as a heavy log was moved into place across the gate to lock it in place.

'_Good luck, gentlemen_,' I thought as we prepared to get settled in for the night. As much as I didn't like the idea of leaving those guys to fend for themselves, I couldn't think of any way to ensure a better outcome in this situation. These men were tough and knew what they had volunteered for in spirit if not in detail. I could only hope they all survived the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 5: "…and Get Our Shit Wrecked by Aliens."

The high walls protected us against the winds and sand, which I could tell were pretty fierce. It was night now and delicious smells wafted through the settlement as food was prepared. Music and conversation filled the night air as we sat eating what seemed to be the evening's main fare; consisting of a flat bread of some sort and some kind of thick soup that was poured into bowls and smelled like porridge. It all looked pretty good, but we had refrained from eating much, save for Daniel who seemed to have no objections to trying new food.

"Hey Jackson, I don't think we should eat any of the food here," Kawalsky suggested.

"I dunno, they might consider that an insult," he replied with a small smile. Then, some sort of armor-skinned large alien armadillo creature was set in front of him. That wiped the smile off his face as we all looked at it, slightly alarmed at the sight. Kasuf gestured to the dish, then at Daniel, indicating that he had the honor of taking the first bite.

"Well, we don't want to offend them now, do we, Daniel?" Kawalsky grinned.

"Agreed. Jackson, for the sake of diplomacy; you should dig in," I laughed.

In response Daniel hesitantly reached forward and removed a piece of white meat from the top. He sniffed it before taking a bite out of it. His eyes widened a bit before he took another bite.

"Tastes like chicken," he reported.

"Are you being serious?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty good!" he replied before taking another bite.

Reaching over and taking a piece for myself, I hesitated before throwing caution to the wind and taking a bite for myself. My eyes instantly widened as I tasted something seemingly identical to chicken.

"Goddamn, he's not lying, it really does taste like chicken! This is certainly one hell of a cliché," I shook my head in surprise before I dug into it some more, laughing in relief. Brown and Kawalsky hesitantly joined a moment later, but quickly started to enjoy once they realized that we were being serious.

Kasuf cautiously smiled at our reactions. Daniel saw this and began to try and illustrate what a chicken was. "Tastes...like...bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk, bawk-bawk-bawk." He flapped his arms with his hands tucked under his armpits, trying to imitate a chicken. Kasuf watched him in confusion. The rest of us just laughed in amusement at our resident nerd's antics.

"Daniel, we're on a different planet. How in the hell would they get what a chicken is from that?" I asked.

"Oh… that's a good point," he realized with an embarrassed grin.

"Oh, please do continue though," I smirked at him evilly. "I'm sure this'll be just as hilarious when I write it down in my report. The report that will be read by many people and discussed at length." Kawalsky and Brown each barked out a laugh and we went back to enjoying the food laid out for us.

"So, Daniel," I said, getting his attention a few minutes later. "That's the Egyptian symbol for Ra, the Sun God, right?" I pointed at the still uncovered gold disk above us.

"That's right," he nodded.

"Then if they're familiar with one Egyptian symbol…" I said leadingly.

"Oh, yes," he agreed before he stood up and crossed over to where Kasuf and Sha're were eating. As Daniel squatted down next to him, Kasuf offered his bowl, but Daniel declined. He reached under his shirt and pulled out his necklace. He showed it to Kasuf, who bent his arm and started muttering words that I couldn't hear. Daniel reached and grabbed Kasuf's arm, causing the man to look up and face him. He pointed to his necklace again and then reached down and began to draw the Eye of Ra in the sand. Kasuf immediately reached out with his foot and rubbed the writing out in a frantic manner.

"Na-ney. Na-ney," Kasuf replied before he rose up and spoke at length loudly, quietening all activity around us. He quickly pushed Sha're back out of sight and continued to speak to the crowd in what sounded to me like an almost panicked tone.

"What did you do?" I asked Daniel.

Kasuf held out both hands to Daniel in a 'stop' gesture and spoke beseechingly to him.

"It seems like writing is forbidden to them," Daniel replied, surprised.

Kasuf continued speaking and gesturing. Several old women hurried forward, wrapping Daniel with a blanket and began to herd him out of the circle. The tone of the atmosphere seems happy and excited as everyone cheered for him.

"They want me to go with them. Should I stay?!" Daniel called to us. But it didn't seem like the old women were giving him a choice as they continued to practically carry him away. "Uh, I'll go with them! I'll go! I'll be fine," Daniel called out just before he was too far away.

I just looked on in amusement. "Why do I get the sneaking feeling our boy's going to get laid tonight?" I asked rhetorically.

I faintly heard Kawalsky mutter, "lucky bastard," and laughed at the expression on his face.

Dinner broke up awhile ago and the rest of us were shown a shelter we were all allowed to sleep in for the night. It was actually a rather grand example compared to much of what was around us, so I conveyed my thanks to Kasuf as best as I was able to before he left to presumably retire for the night.

A short time later, Brown had gone off to have a look around and Kawalsky had elected to join him. I stepped out of our hovel and started rustling through one of my vest pockets. One of the things I was interested to see upon being sent to this universe was any discernable differences between the 1990's I experienced and the one I was currently experiencing. Much to my delight, I found one little difference one day when I walked into a gas station; Altoid Sours.

It may not seem like that big of a deal compared to dealing with the comparatively inferior technology, backstepping into 90's culture or any of a thousand other little things, but I remember how disappointed I was when these things were discontinued. I bought one of every flavor of the little tin containers right there when I saw them and had enjoyed snacking on them ever since. I was pretty sure that they weren't sold in my universe until sometime into the 2000's, but I certainly wasn't going to complain. What was especially nice was that unless they got wet, I didn't really have to worry about them melting in the desert heat.

I popped the lid off of the container and enjoyed one of the tangerine flavored rock candies. I then looked up at the night sky and took a long look at the strange sky above me. It hadn't occurred to me until the sandstorm had let up, but we were under a whole new sky. Only two of the moons were visible above the settlement right now and the lights from the torches around the settlement created enough light to drown out a bit more, but I was both grateful and fascinated by the stars I could see. Also, the sight of two moons in the sky was a fascinating one to me. Here I was, standing under a whole new sky for the first time in my life. I wondered if I might ever get to name any constellations…

Before I put the container away, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Skaara looking at me watching the night sky. "Come on over here, kid," I said as I gestured for him to come over. He did so, sitting on the windowsill beside me. I placed my hand over my chest and said my name, "Lennex," in a firm manner. I then pointed to him and said nothing, hoping he would catch on.

He seemed pretty sharp since he caught on right away to what I was going for. He placed his hand over his own chest and said proudly, "Skaara." I smiled and repeated his name to him and he nodded as he repeated mine. Houston, we have breached the communication barrier!

I saw him looking at the Altoid container in my hand, so I shrugged and took the lid off of the container again before handing him one of the candies inside and taking another one for myself. Skaara looked curiously at the little candy before imitating me and placing it in his mouth. I tried not to laugh too hard as I saw his eyes widen and his face then pucker like he had just bitten into a lemon. I hadn't considered that he probably wouldn't expect the sour taste or even have any tolerance for it if he had never had anything especially sour before.

Skaara ended up spitting the little candy back into his hand in surprise as I continued to laugh at his reaction. He looked to me still enjoying my Altoid with no apparent reaction and contemplated his own candy for a moment before putting it back into his mouth. I guess he decided he liked it, because while his face puckered again, he kept it in his mouth this time, seemingly determined to imitate me.

Still amused by his reaction, I decided to gift him with something useful and from the original canon universe. I took out a silver colored lighter I was carrying on me and showed it to him. He seemed fascinated by it when I popped open the little lid and just about jumped off of the windowsill when I showed him how it could emit fire. I passed it to him and let him try it for himself and he got the hang of it pretty quick. He had the biggest smile on his face when he got it to work without me having to show him how.

Skaara made to pass the lighter back to me, but I shook my head placed my hand on it and pushed it back to him. "You keep it," I said. I had bought two from the store on base once I had realized that even though I didn't smoke, lighters were still useful devices to carry. I knew Skaara would appreciate it more than I would and it seemed like the least of what I could offer him considering the role he would play later in the mission. I then shooed him off once I saw Brown come around the corner and wave at me. I walked over to Brown, who was holding his radio out.

"Any luck getting through to the camp?" I asked. I noticed that Kawalsky had just walked over to listen to us talk.

"Nothing, sir," Brown replied.

"Still getting interference?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

"No, sir. They're simply not responding," he clarified.

"Weird. Maybe the storm is still active somewhere out there we just can't see. Still, we should make sure we have all of our stuff and get back to the others at daybreak. Let's split up and find Daniel," I said.

"Yes, sir," Brown and Kawalsky nodded.

After another half hour of searching, we still couldn't find him. All we had managed to find was his jacket, which had been sitting on a nearby fence post near an animal pen.

"Sorry sir, but I couldn't find Jackson anywhere," Kawalsky reported.

"He's got to be somewhere around here," I remarked. "Go ahead and make sure the gear is packed and that we're ready to move out at first light. I'll take another look around. I think I might have an idea," I replied. Kawalsky saluted me as I noticed Skaara and his friends watching us. I returned the salute quickly before Kawalsky went back to our room to pack up.

"Well, this'll be fun," I muttered to myself before I walked over to the kids. I had a vague recollection of how this encounter went the first time and I didn't think I was coming out of it looking like any less of a fool than O'Neill did.

I sighed as Skaara and his friends walked towards me. "I don't suppose any of you can tell me where Daniel Jackson went?" I asked rhetorically, not expecting an answer.

The kids all looked at me curiously. "The guy with the hair to here?" I gestured to my hair and to my shoulders, since Daniel was the only one of us with a clearly non-military haircut. The kids all imitated my gesture with their own hair.

"No, uh, the guy with the glasses?" I tried asking, using my fingers to imitate glasses on my face. The kids all just imitated me curiously again.

"No, no, no," I sighed, getting frustrated. "He sneezes a lot?" I mimed sneezing into my hands, but again all of the kids just imitated me and seemed to all be rather amused while doing so.

"This is his jacket," I tried, holding it up. "I don't know where he is. Can you help me?" I mimed out confusion as I held my arms out helplessly in an 'I-don't-know-what-to-do' sort of gesture.

The kids continued to mime me until Skaara seemed to get what I was asking and appeared to have some sort of 'eureka' moment. "Eyiee!" he said. "Bawk bawk!" Skaara began to mime out Daniel's chicken impression from during the dinner. The other kids all soon joined and I had to struggle not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation as a dozen kids all flapped their arms like chickens and called out, 'bawk, bawk!'

"Yeah," I said over the noise once I was done getting my own laughter under control. "Yeah, I'm looking for the chicken man. Can any of you show me where he went?"

Skaara seemed to be catching on that I was looking for him and gestured for his friends to stop acting like chickens. One of his friends kept doing it longer than the others and Skaara slapped his chest to get him to stop while presumably saying the boy's name in an exasperated manner. I idly noticed that it was the same boy from before who took Daniel's handkerchief from his pocket.

Skaara turned back to me, smiled and nodded while pointing to the jacket I held in my hand. I held it out to him. Taking it from me, he ran over to the bantha creature in an enclosure nearby and stuffed it in front of the thing's nose.

It only took a few good sniffs before the bantha thing started to get antsy and began shuffling its feet in place at the gate to its enclosure. Skaara opened the pen and the animal moved forward with a purpose as it trotted through the settlement. Skaara waved for me to follow him while it looked like the rest of his friends were going to follow us too.

"Well, I'll be dammed," I grinned before we followed the big bantha thing with Kawalsky and Brown joining us along the way. It would have been hard for them to miss us considering we must have looked like quite the procession as we jogged through the settlement. Many of the locals that were still awake were openly gawking at us in either amusement or amazement as we followed the bantha creature. After several minutes of following it through the winding paths between the tents and hovels, we came across a small opening in a building that seemed to have been built out of a large outcropping of rock.

Skaara and the others seemed nervous about going in further once they realized where we were. Those of us from Earth however had no such problems as we approached where the creature had indicated Daniel had gone.

Skaara whispered to his friends for a few moments before he waved them off and followed behind us. He said something in his own language before reaching out to our side and grabbing a torch and passing it to me. I stepped inside with Skaara beside me and leading the way and with Brown and Kawalsky behind us.

Once inside, I immediately noted the Earth Stargate symbol was displayed on the wall. I also heard voices further in, so I continued along the path, turned a corner and saw Daniel with Sha're sitting close together against a large carving against the far wall. They were talking to each other quietly and in the local language.

"Having fun?" I asked Daniel, alerting him to our presence.

"Huh?! Oh, hi! You startled me," he laughed nervously.

"So, you're picking up the language fairly quickly, then?" I asked.

"Well, it's an ancient Egyptian dialect. I mean, it's like the rest of their culture. It's evolved completely independently over the last few thousand years. But...uh...once you learn the vowels…" he tried to explain.

"Fascinating, sure, but you can definitely speak the language now?" I asked.

"Well, uh… I-I mean…I just had to learn how to pronounce it. I mean, it hasn't been a living, spoken language in more than one thousand years. I mean, look at this." Here Daniel pointed at what was written on the wall beside carved pictures. "It says; 'A traveler from distant stars escaped from a dying world looking for a way to extend his own life.'" He then pointed to a picture of what looked like a pictogram of an Asgard-looking alien. Idly, I wondered if the translation was off or the original author here was working off some oddly incorrect information.

"'His body, decaying and weak...he couldn't prevent his own demise.' Apparently, his whole species was becoming extinct."

"'So, he travelled...' or 'searched', '...the stars looking for a way to cheat death.' And uh...look here." Now Daniel pointed to another pictograph showing a pyramid with the sun above it. Humans were drawn as small stick figures below the pyramid. Another picture shows lights coming down from a pyramid, with a young boy under them all.

"'He came to a world, rich with life, where he encountered a primitive race-humans. A species which, with all his powers and knowledge, he could maintain indefinitely. He realized within a human body, he had a chance for a new life.' Now, he apparently found a young boy. It says: 'As the frightened villagers ran, night became day. Curious and without fear, he walked towards the light.' Ra took him and possessed his body-like some kind of... parasite looking for a host. And inhabiting this human form, he appointed himself ruler." The rest of the pictographs showed Ra as ruler over the people and an active Stargate with people walking through it.

"He used the Stargate to bring thousands of people here to this planet, as workers for the mines, just like the one we saw," Daniel continued as he moved over to point at another picture showing workers bring the mineral as offerings to Ra. "This mineral is clearly an essential component for all his technology. With this, he can sustain eternal life. Now, something happened—where is it—back on Earth. A rebellion or uprising, and the Stargate was buried there." Another pictograph showed the uprising. "Fearful of a rebellion here, Ra outlawed reading and writing. He didn't want the people to remember the truth."

"Well," I said slowly. "That sounds like trouble. We'd best hope this jackoff doesn't come back around here." However, I knew that it was already too late for that. And when we were done with him, we still had the whole psycho family to deal with as well as all of their friends.

I'd wondered why Ra had never returned to Earth with a fleet to pacify the rebels once he'd escaped. The series had never offered a substantial explanation and it had mostly been left unexplained. Personally, I'd wondered if Ra had some sort of complex that made him incredibly fearful of returning. It had been established that the goa'uld were fairly psychologically unstable as a whole with a few notable exceptions such as the Tok'ra. Perhaps Ra was afraid to return to the place of his defeat? It wasn't impossible, but it was certainly convenient for us.

'_Not that it really matters,_' I thought. _'That jackass won't survive the next few days if I have anything to say about it.'_

"Jackson!" Kawalsky called and we turned to see him pointing down another passage. "I think you'd better come and take a look at this."

Daniel and I followed Kawalsky to where Brown and Skaara were at. I saw a round stone, similar to the center piece of the Earth Stargate cover stone, imbedded in the wall.

"That looks exactly like what we've been looking for," I said as I pointed at it.

"Yes! That's it! They must've hidden it here in hopes that one day the gate on Earth could be reopened. I knew they'd have it written down someplace," Daniel exclaimed in excitement. He stepped forward to the stone and started wiping sediment off the markings. He stopped when he felt a jagged edge where the bottom of the stone had broken off.

"Wait a minute. Where's the seventh symbol? It must have broken." Daniel began to frantically look around the floor in the hopes that the broken piece was nearby. "It's gotta be here, somewhere. It's gotta-got it!" He picked up two pieces of stone and placed them together.

"It's worn out. I can't make it work without the seventh symbol," Daniel replied, looking truly disappointed.

"Nah, it's still fine, Jackson! Think about it like this; all we need to do is try a maximum of 39 times to get the correct address to go back home. We've now got the correct symbols and even the correct order they're in, so it'll be the only one we can get a lock on since the seventh symbol is the point of origin," I replied, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. "Whether we get it on the first try or the 39th, we got this."

Kawalsky and Brown sighed in relief as the knowledge that they were really going home began to sink in. Daniel also looked happy, but still cast a wishful look over my shoulder to where I believed Sha're was standing. It was clear to me that he was already feeling attached to this place and was feeling a bit reluctant about leaving.

"Anyway, I think it's time we got moving back home. We'll come back soon, but we need more supplies and equipment if we want to set up something more permanent," I suggested before turning around and walking out of the catacombs. I didn't think we actually would be coming back right away, but it was important to keep up the appearance that I didn't know that trouble had already arrived. Besides, it was a nice thought while it lasted.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We left the confines of the city in the early morning. The sun had not yet risen over the horizon, but its light was slowly brightening up the sky. The only sound that could be heard was the soft crunching of our boots on the sand as we prepared to leave. I looked back to see Daniel saying his goodbyes to Sha're, who was one of the few people to see us off this early in the morning along with Kasuf and Skaara and a couple of the latter's friends. We waved farewell to them as we walked back in the direction of the pyramid. Daniel kept looking over his shoulder, specifically to Sha're, as we walked further away.

"Don't worry, Jackson. You'll see your girlfriend again," I called to him. He turned to me and hurried over.

"She's not my-" he began to say.

"Sure, sure," I interrupted, shrugging, but I had a small smirk on my face. "So, I think Jackson here has made himself into something of a local legend by my own reckoning."

"What?" Kawalsky asked. All of the others looked equally confused by my statement. "What makes you say that, sir?"

"Well," I said while clapping Daniel on the back. "Jackson here apparently made quite the impression on everyone at dinner last night. When I tried to ask the kids where he had gone off to, none of them could recognize the description I was giving them. Not his height, his glasses or even his sneezing. But almost immediately, they all knew who I was talking about when Skaara identified you by your chicken impression over dinner."

Brown and Kawalsky started laughing while Daniel was looking rather embarrassed. "Are you serious, sir?" Brown asked.

"As a heart attack, Brown," I answered. "I saw it with my own two eyes; a dozen kids all flapping their arms like chickens and going 'bawk, bawk,' until I nodded and they all led us right to you, Jackson. As if nobody else could _possibly_ be associated with acting like a chicken! And where did we find you? Playing Aladdin with your new girlfriend and exploring the Cave of Wonders. Or did we interrupt you before you got to that part? It's hard to say, really," I hummed aloud.

Kawalsky and Brown were practically dying of laughter at this point and Daniel's ears were red in a way that I knew didn't have anything to do with the desert sun.

"I believe it should be noted in the official report that Dr. Daniel 'Chicken Man' Jackson has already left a profound impression on the local population," I added with a 'butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth' smile. "For his efforts in bridging the gap between cultures and worlds, I can do nothing less than recommend a commendation for our team's civilian specialist. Thoughts?"

"The Silver Drumstick medal?" Kawalsky laughed.

"At least get him a gift card to KFC!" Brown suggested between snorts of laughter.

I couldn't hold back my own laughter any more at this point as the three of us laughed loudly at our civilian friend's embarrassed expression. "Oh, knock it off!" Daniel said, his face and ears red, but I saw him turning his head to the side so we wouldn't see the smile on his face.

We all settled down and Brown started up the next topic of conversation. "Sir, any ideas what we'll be bringing back on the next trip here?"

"Well, let me think," I pondered aloud, knowing full well that it wasn't going to go that way, but still playing along. "Probably a few more shelters since there's not too much space inside that pyramid and we'll need somewhere to put all the people and stuff we bring through. The locals don't seem too attached to the place, so I hope they don't mind if we set up our camp around it for conveniences sake. How about you, Jackson? Any ideas?"

"I think some more writing materials and books would be a big help here. I want to try and get these people to read and write again and maybe teach them about Earth and where they all came from," Daniel said.

"Not a bad idea. We'll also definitely need a few vehicles if we're going to set up something long term here. I was thinking ATVs, myself," I said.

"You think a small tank might fit through the gate?" Kawalsky asked. "Just in case those guys on the cave paintings ever come back, it'd certainly be nice to have. These folks look like they could use the firepower if they had to drive them off."

"If not, we can just bring the parts through and assemble them over on this end. Good point though. We'd have to move the gate to a bigger room or something if we tried that though. Can you imagine the guys back home having to open the testing silo and lowering all that stuff down into that small room to bring it through? We're definitely gonna need a bigger gate room," I sighed.

It was actually one of the changes I wanted to make if I ever got the chance. Cheyanne mountain made a great base to hold the SGC, but that gate room was a terrible defensive location. Sure, the windows had blast doors and it could be sealed off in an emergency, but throughout the series, I remembered those useless looking .50 caliber machine guns flanking the ramp leading up to the gate. Any intruder only had to take a few steps forward to render them both ineffective. Not to mention that there was no real cover for the defenders to hide behind in there. If given the opportunity, I'd definitely have to push for the gate room to be redesigned. Maybe stretching it back at least a few dozen yards so the defenders wouldn't be close enough to shake hands with any hostile force that came through? I wonder how many walls we could get away with knocking down?

The conversation continued for the rest of our journey back to the pyramid. We kept to the bottom of the sand dunes so we wouldn't wear ourselves out by having to climb them all. Therefore, we didn't see the pyramid until we had gotten fairly close, but we fortunately knew which way to go. By now, even though the sun still hadn't fully risen, the sky was a beautiful wash of oranges, yellows and blues with two of the moons visible in the sky above us and the third presumably low enough that we couldn't see it. It occurred to me that if this planet had oceans, the tides must be crazy with all that gravitational interference going on.

I heard a sound come from atop the dune we had just passed, but I didn't turn around. I knew what it was. Skaara and his merry band were following us and had been doing so for a while now. Kawalsky also seemed to have noticed.

"Uh, sir? Those kids are following us," he reported.

"They have been for some time now. It's ok, Kawalsky, we've got nothing to hide from them," I replied and he relaxed.

We then clambered up the next sand dune so we would get a good look at the pyramid and confirm our destination was close. We crested the dune only to come face to face with a giant metal pyramid shaped building instead. The rising sun, which had not touched our faces yet, bathed the tip of the building in a rosy glow. The sheer size of this thing was incredible to behold since it positively dwarfed the much smaller pyramid it had landed on.

The three of us hit the sand on the edge of the dune, Kawalsky and Brown readying their weapons as I pulled down a slower Daniel so he wouldn't be spotted. I pulled out my binoculars and took a look of the new structure, which I knew was Ra's ship/palace. Ra's symbol was even stamped on the four sides of the top section in a shining gold color.

"I am certain that wasn't there when we left," I said lightly as I put away my binoculars and double checked my own weapons.

"What the hell is that?" Brown asked as he chambered a round in his sidearm.

"Beats me," I told him. "Best guess? Some of those aliens we saw in the cave paintings decided to swing by for a pit stop." I observed the ground between us and the pyramid and made a plan. "This is the last dune before the ramp leading into the pyramid. We won't bother trying to hide our approach, so on my mark, we all make a dash for the entrance. Keep your eyes out for the rest of the team. Our goal is to find them and make it back to the stargate. Got it?"

Brown and Kawalsky nodded before he handed the loaded pistol to Daniel. "Here. You might need this," he said. Daniel nodded and took the weapon, looking nervous as hell as he prepared to follow us. I rose up and made a dash for the temple entrance, with Kawalsky, Brown and then Daniel following behind me.

I entered and did a quick sweep of what I could see before stalking over to the makeshift camp in the middle of the room. I heard Kawalsky come in behind me as he and Brown took up defensive positions at my flanks. I reached down and picked up some spent bullet casings lying on the ground by the now cold campfire. I was now very nervous as I knew that there was at least one Horus Guard Jaffa lurking somewhere in the temple with more nearby.

I quickly dove for cover behind a pillar, with Daniel doing the same, facing me. I mimed for him to stay quiet and he nodded jerkily back at me. I then looked to my left and right and saw Kawalsky and Brown against their own pillars and looking for threats. I signaled them both to advance slowly through the chamber as I turned to Daniel and slowly mimed for him to follow me and to stay close.

I stepped out from behind the pillar and advanced straight towards the back of the chamber where I knew the ramp to the stargate was. There was silence for a few seconds as I walked forward. Suddenly, I heard a loud 'thwack' like something hard hitting flesh and heard a loud grunt from Brown's position to my left.

I threw myself around the pillar to Brown's location and saw the Horus Guard had struck Brown in the face with his staff weapon and had pulled it around and readied it to fire. The guard seemed surprised by my appearance and turned to look at me. Except, his hawk helmet seemed to move with him in a very lifelike imitation of what an animal would look like if it had a human body.

I raised my weapon and fired at him, but most of the rounds seemed to just bounce off of the helmet and the upper part of the torso that was covered by an ornate attachment of the helmet. Then, the Horus Guard cried out in pain as one of my rounds hit his exposed shoulder. He quickly retreated behind a pillar and vanished from sight.

"Brown!" I hissed to him. He understood my look and rose from the ground, weapon in hand as I covered him. I gave him a look over as he got up and saw that he had definitely gotten a good hit to the face and was bleeding from the nose where he was struck, but it looked superficial. However, I didn't like how he was clutching his side where I'd guessed one of those hits had landed.

I motioned for him to stick close to Daniel and I and then turned to where Daniel was just in time to see Kawalsky fly through the air as if being thrown. He impacted the wall and slid down to sit slumped over and unmoving.

'_Aw, hell! How many of these bastards are hiding in here?'_ I cursed mentally.

I then came face to face with another Horus Guard as he pointed his weapon at an exposed Daniel. "Look out!" I called out as I yanked on his jacket, pulling him out of the line of fire, just as an energy shot blasted a sizable chunk out of the pillar right where he was just standing.

I then ran for the Stargate with Daniel right behind me. I heard the heavy crack of a staff weapon hitting something, probably Brown, but no charging sound followed, meaning that he was now also likely unconscious and captured.

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked as we ran down the ramp into the smaller chamber with the stargate in it. I pointed Daniel to the dialing pedestal to one side of the room while I hustled over to the rover we had brought with us and began opening up the hidden compartment in the back.

"You're going to start dialing the 39 possible combinations until we get a hit. I'll cover you until you get a lock. Then you'll go through. I'll stay behind to try and recover Kawalsky and Brown." I replied. I opened up the hatch concealing where the nuke had been when I had stored it. Or should have been, at least.

It was gone.

"Because of course it is," I muttered.

"What are you looking for?" Daniel asked.

"The concealed nuclear device that was stored in here," I replied.

"The _what!?"_ Daniel cried out in surprise.

"The contingency plan was to use the bomb to blow the gate on this side if we encountered hostile aliens on this side of the gate. They wouldn't be able to follow us through after and therefore eliminate the risk of the bastards using the gate to get to Earth," I explained.

Before Daniel could question further though, a sound directed our attention to the ceiling where a circular section opened up and what looked like several mini stargates lowered themselves down until they stopped on the ground, stacked very uniformly on top of each other and flashed a bright light inside of the rings.

As the light sunk down, Ra's First Prime materialized within the rings. I could tell it was him from the more ornate gold patterns on his helmet and that it was a jackal for a head instead of a bird. Prime then spoke a few Goa'uld words at us as the two guards from the other room came down the ramp and pointed their staff weapons at us. Daniel was shaking like a leaf as he pointed the sidearm that Brown gave him at the First Prime. Prime then levelled his own staff weapon at us and charged the weapon but didn't fire. He simply waited.

"Daniel… put it down. They got us," I told him quietly. I might have been able to shoot the First Prime as he teleported down and then made it past his buddies, but I decided it was safer to play it like this. They wanted us alive and surrendering was our best chance to both stay alive and rescue the others.

Daniel hesitated, before he slowly lowered the gun.

**~SG-WOLF~**

A few minutes later, after we had been effectively disarmed, we were ringed up onto the ship. Daniel and I watched as the rings disappeared through an opening in the ceiling. I took note of the jeweled button the First Prime pressed on his gauntlet, which activated the rings.

"Yata," the First Prime growled as he pushed us forward with his staff. We walked forward into a large throne room with a highly polished marble floor, large round pillars on either side of us and a large throne-like chair at the other end of the room. Steps led to another chamber behind the seat and two hawk statues flanking the seat, with their wings outstretched as if to shelter or praise whomever sat on the throne. Smoke from two torches behind the throne rose up to gather near the ceiling where it presumably was vented elsewhere.

A loud rumbling sounded as the outer shell of the ship split apart into different sections and the top part of the outer shell sheathed itself into the lower part of the outer hull. Morning sunlight flooded the room as we were granted a spectacular view of the surrounding desert in the early hours of the morning.

There was a loud clunking sound as the movements stopped and we were shoved forward again by the First Prime. The first two guards had walked ahead of us and now stood still. We came up to stand next to them and one of them struck Daniel in the backs of his knees, bringing him crashing into a kneeling position painfully. Then the First Prime did the same to me and I winced as my knees collided hard against the polished stone floor. "Gonna remember that," I growled at the First Prime before I turned fully forward to pay attention to what happened next.

I looked up to see a large pair of ornate double doors swing inward, revealing a bright light behind them. I watched as Ra and his entourage entered through the doors. The entourage was made up of over a dozen young boys and girls all dressed in minimalistic cloth coverings and none of whom looked to even be twelve. The Supreme System Lord was garbed in ornate blue and black robes and wore an elaborate gold headpiece that looked like an ancient pharaoh's mask, which covered his face completely.

I watched with more than a little disgust as this procession made its way to the throne. Ra made his way to the throne to sit and settled into it with the kids settling around him as if creating a living frame for the Supreme System Lord. Ra then said something in goa'uld that I couldn't understand and gestured off to one of his Horus Guards at the side of the chamber.

As soon as Ra had finished speaking, two servants carried in the bomb on a small litter. "Oh good, you found it," I said lightly as it was placed between the throne and us.

"That's the bomb?" Daniel asked me and I turned to see him glaring at me accusingly.

"Look, it was a contingency plan! It wasn't like I intended to use it once I saw a bunch of friendly civilians hanging around," I replied. "I told you, it was a back-up plan in case these guys were still around."

Ra then gestured to his First Prime with an order and the First Prime brought up his hand to press a small button on the side of his Jackal shaped helmet. I watched in interest as the helmet slowly broke apart and folded in on itself in an impressive display of folding metal technology until his head was now uncovered and showed a smirking human face. We then watched as the second Horus Guard did the same, showing a brown skinned male who was sneering at us. Then we turned to Ra as his headpiece did the same, showing his rather effeminate and youthful looks with flawless skin and long and intricately braided hair. The three underlings then all sank onto one knee and bowed before Ra as he gave us a superior look from atop his throne as he stroked the head of one of the children sitting at his feet.

That was the moment I had been waiting for. I reached out quickly at the First Prime kneeling next to me and delivered a harsh hand chop to his throat, causing him to fall back and clutch his neck while gasping. Quickly, I grabbed the staff weapon now laying unattended and raised it up as I learned how to fire the damned thing.

Ignoring Daniel's yelling, I fired and killed the second guard before he could finish rising from the floor. However, I couldn't turn swiftly enough to kill the third and final guard, who was already aiming his weapon at me. But then, Daniel jumped between the guard and me, raising his arms out wide.

"No!" he cried out before the third guard fired the shot originally meant for me but struck Daniel hard in the chest and sent him falling.

"Daniel!" I yelled. Even though I knew intellectually that he was going to be ok, it was still a shock for me to see him go down like that. I turned on the spot swiftly and prepared to shoot Ra, but the kids had already gathered in front of their master to act as human shields.

Call me callous or evil, but I was sorely tempted to take the shot anyway and damn the consequences if I had to take a second or a third. This bastard was every evil thing I could ever hate and there was the savage part of me which wanted him to die painfully for all that he's done. Point and case for this was the kids.

How many of them does this prick go through in a decade to keep this 'living décor' crap going? A century? Where do those kids come from and what happens to them when they get older? Are they gifted to his underlings as servants? Hosts? Dark memories arose in my mind as I remembered human traffickers on Earth or more specifically, their victims. Young and terrified faces looked out at me through memories as I felt such righteous anger at the implications of what I was seeing here.

I tried to reign in my emotions as best as I could. I had remembered this moment from the movie and had braced myself while coming up here, but I hadn't truly considered what I would be seeing until it was right in front of me. I wanted to shoot him so damn bad. Never mind the consequences or any of the other suffering this _fuck_ had caused, I wanted him dead _now _and for _this_. So what if one more kid died to get it done? How many more would die if I didn't at least try?

But I never fired.

Maybe I was struck by weakness at the thought of maybe hitting one of those kids or maybe you could call it 'White Knight' syndrome, but I couldn't take the shot. I paused in the firing position for several more seconds until pain exploded from the back of my head as I was knocked to the ground by the First Prime. I rolled over onto my back and blearily looked at him, my vision swimming. He then struck me once again, and darkness took me.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I regained consciousness as soon as I hit the water. I rose up, ready to lash out, but stopped when I saw Kawalsky in front of me.

"Colonel! It's alright, it's me!" he said with a hand on my shoulder.

"Kawalsky?" I asked before I looked around. Freeman, Ferretti and Riley were in the corner, with Brown looking a little worse for wear, but still alive and right behind Kawalsky. Ferretti seemed to be recovering from a nasty hit to the head as well.

"You alright, sir?" Brown asked.

"Yeah… I'm fine," I muttered.

The sound of a heavy grate grinding and slamming over our heads made us look up. We saw the opening close over our heads and the First Prime smirking at us before leaving.

"Well, looks like we're gonna be stuck here for a while," I sighed before floating over to a wall and leaning up against it.

"Sir, where's Jackson?" Kawalsky asked.

"He took a hit," I replied, so drained at this point that I just decided to be a bit more honest than I might have usually been. I was replaying that scene in the throne room over in my head. "They took him to get treated, so I think he'll be alright."

Ferretti and the others relayed to me what happened to the rest of them last night, including how they had had to abandon the camp and retreat inside the temple where each of them was jumped almost simultaneously. Riley had been holding his weapon and had tried to get a shot off when he was suddenly being choked from behind. Ferretti had tried to throw his own attacker off only to get a nasty blow to the face for his efforts.

I then relayed my own accounting of events to the others since I was the one who lasted the longest without being captured. I decided to come clean with them all right there about the bomb hidden in the rover we had brought with us. Needless to say, they were all pretty shocked that they hadn't been told about this but seemed to understand my reasoning for not telling them. Technically, I was violating orders by doing so, but to hell with West's orders. I told them there was no way I was going to use that nuke once I saw that there were all those innocent people so close by and that seemed to mollify Kawalsky and Brown who were the most shocked at the prospect of nuking all those people who had welcomed us into their home the night before. I also told them all that since Ra knew about the nuke, there was no point keeping it secret from the rest of them now. It was a factor to consider, but if we used it now, we'd definitely be killing all the people in the city nearby. That made it our absolute-last-resort option and I was glad to see that everyone agreed with me when I told them that.

"Sir," Freeman asked. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to do now," I said before I settle against the wall. "We're stuck down here for now, but it won't be for too long. Sooner or later, they're gonna come back and pull one or more of us out of here for one reason or another. Let's all try to rest as much as we can before they come back. We'll keep our eyes open, play it smart and wait for an opportunity."

My teammates only seemed slightly encouraged by my little speech. I was happy to see that so far, nobody was dead, at least permanently. I closed my eyes and focused on my own breathing as I reprimanded myself for what happened in the throne room. I had been managing fine so far, but I needed to put a clamp on my emotions before I did something stupid again. The memories and emotions that had surfaced in that throne room...it was definitely my own and not interference by any higher power. I briefly considered the possibility, but recognized the emotion when it came up. It was a part of my own life and memories, but I thought that part of me was long buried.

Perhaps the new memories of this world I had been given had caused something like a relapse? I was no psychologist, but I was no stranger to the effects of PTSD. This would require further thought and consideration. I had been doing fine up until I let myself get out of control like that. I had allowed myself to get swept up in the memory as it hit me, but I could be grateful that I hadn't decided to shoot. Apart from messing up the series of events unfolding, my own consciousness would have never forgiven me for such a thing. It was so completely careless of me to freeze and even consider doing it, I wanted to punch myself in the face. I needed to keep making the right moves or I was going to fuck it all up for everyone involved. These men depended on me and I couldn't let them down. I had to keep myself under control.

I sighed as I got ready to settle in against the wall until they came back for us. It was going to be a long day.

**~SG-WOLF~**

**AN**: Kinda dark near the end there, I know. However, I thought it was important to flesh out this character I've created and give him his own personality traits and flaws. The guy has two lifetimes of memories crammed into his head, so of course he'd have at least a few demons lurking in there too.

If you have your own thoughts and opinions on the matter, I'm always happy to read your reviews or PMs. Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 6: I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!

I lost track of how long we were floating in that cell. One of those pricks took our watches, but I guessed we were there through the night and into the next day's morning. Nobody stopped by to feed any of us and the only water we had we were floating in. Despite the fact that the water looked fairly clean, we all agreed that drinking it unless there was no other choice was a bad idea. Other than the fact that we had all been floating in it for hours in our dirty clothes and unwashed bodies, we had no idea if there was any sort of filtration system in here with us.

The next day, the guards came and brought us out of the hole. They had apparently learned from their mistake yesterday and kept us all under closer guard and at least one of them was always covering us with a staff weapon. We were all brought outside and displayed in front of Ra on the ramp leading into the temple. He was wearing his pharaoh mask and ornate silver and gold robes while all of his guards were back to wearing their bird and jackal helmets. Behind us, what looked like several thousand Abydonians were on the ground and prostrating in front of their 'god.' There were two Horus Guards next to us keeping watch and I noted one of the cocky bastards had taken one of our knives we had brought with us and was wearing it on his belt.

"Sha-vus, tol'mek," Ra spoke in Goa'uld, and there was a great rustling noise as I heard everyone behind us get to their feet while Ra settled into his throne, which he had apparently ordered brought down from his ship along with several statues and other decorative items to set the stage for his little show. Then, out from the shadowed entrance behind him, Daniel emerged and walked forward to stand beside the throne. He had been completely healed from the staff blast and only bore a hole in his shirt where the blast had struck him.

The First Prime then thrust a staff weapon at Daniel, ordering him to take it. He slowly took it and stood there a moment. Apparently, it was longer than the First Prime liked, because the he gave another sharp command and pointed down the ramp at the rest of us.

Daniel began to walk slowly down the ramp, the staff weapon held horizontally in front of him and pointed at us. But as he was about halfway down, a bright reflective light crossed his eyes and drew his attention to the crowd. I suppressed a smirk as I recognized exactly what was happening and what was causing that glare.

'_That's the lighter I gave him,'_ I thought. _'Attaboy, Skaara.'_

I'm not sure if the others noticed the light, but I could feel Kawalsky tense as he was the closest to me. I was confident the others would react in time once they realized this was about to become a rescue. Daniel had certainly noticed the light by the time he reached us and pointed the staff at me. I saw his eyes shift through the crowd and show surprise and hope. He then looked back at me and primed the weapon. There was a long pause as Daniel stood there with his weapon ready.

Then, Daniel suddenly turned and fired off his shot at the top of the ramp, which impacted in front of the small squad of Horus Guards in front of Ra, killing at least one of them for being too close to the blast. Daniel may have had the element of surprise, but he was no soldier and his aim with that staff wasn't particularly good. More likely that he had just gotten really lucky with that shot.

At that point, gunfire erupted from the crowd behind us and I sped forward to the guard who was closest to us. He had been relatively unaffected by Daniel's surprise attack and was readying his own staff weapon and pointing it at us.

"Oh no ya don't!" I yelled as I rushed forward and delivered a heavy palm strike to the guard's completely uncovered solar plexus. He cried out sharply at that unexpected blow and I gave him no time to recover as I put one hand on his staff weapon and another on his wrist, applying pressure. I swept my leg out and my booted foot impacted behind the shin armor the jaffa wore striking my steel toe against his unprotected achilles tendon. The effect was exactly as I had desired as the jaffa went down onto his knee and I used the distraction of his pain to rip the staff weapon out of his hand. I quickly took a step back to give myself some space with my new weapon before bringing it around as hard as I could against the beaked helmet's face.

I was fairly certain that the helmet would keep him from any fatal blow to the head that I could deliver with what was essentially just a metal stick. However, the force of the blow would hopefully send his head rattling inside the helmet and keep him from getting back up right away. I was pleased when the Horus Guard went tumbling back over the side of the ramp from the force of the blow and fell several yards onto the sand below.

Pleased with my success, I turned with the staff weapon ready in my hand and saw that Ferretti and Kawalsky had managed to overwhelm the other jaffa that had brought us here and Freeman was now sporting a staff weapon of his own and figuring out how it worked. I turned my head to take in what was going on at the top of the ramp and saw that more jaffa had started to pour out of the entrance of the temple and that Ra had already been taken back inside and out of danger. Daniel was keeping the jaffa mostly held back with a few random shots that seemed to mostly be hitting stone but was temporarily holding back the rush of the reinforcements, but not for much longer.

"Time to run, people!" I called as we all started fleeing down the ramp, Daniel dropping his staff weapon and joining us at a sprint to keep up while I fired a few more low accuracy shots at the leading jaffa before turning and sprinting myself to catch up. We made it to the base of the ramp and into the crowd before the jaffa could get another shot at us. I dashed into the crowd with Daniel, Kawalsky and the rest of my squad right beside me.

Skaara and a few of his friends quickly met up with us and threw brown cloaks over us to disguise us from the Horus Guards who all stood atop the ramp and searched the panicking crowd for us. The First Prime or somebody with authority must have decided to say 'fuck it' and roll the dice, because the next thing I heard was them opening fire on the crowd at anything that looked like it might be us. Most of them missed hitting anyone since the whole crowd was in a panic and they didn't know where to fire, but I saw small groups of Abydonians go down as the yellow plasma impacted them and the sand around them, throwing up small geysers of sand and causing the crowd to panic even more.

I wanted to keep holding onto the staff weapons we had stolen, but there was no easy way to run with them in our hands. Not wanting to be spotted, I quickly dropped mine into the sand beside the body of an unmoving Abydonian in our path and reached over to make sure Freeman did the same with his.

Freeman seemed reluctant to part with the weapon, but I didn't give him much of a choice as I harshly slapped it out of his hand, nearly causing him to trip over it as it fell. I didn't give him a chance to argue or go back for it as I grabbed his arm and pulled him along even quicker as one of the kids kept gesturing us into a particular direction over one of the dunes surrounding the pyramid. I didn't recognize him, but I knew he was one of the ones helping us because I saw him carrying a pistol in has hand and waving it around frantically and in a way that would have made any firing range instructor I knew froth at the mouth in pure rage.

We crossed the dune in a mad dash, sand pelting us from a few close calls with staff blasts and all of us unsure of where we were supposed to go. I had lost sight of the others as we had fled into the crowd and been covered in cloaks. Fortunately, Skaara was there to direct us to a small grouping of the bantha creatures and gestured for us to grab onto the harnesses on their sides and to hold on. We jumped onto its back and, with a little encouragement from Skaara in the form of a burst of gunfire and yelling to the beasts, we took off with Daniel and I desperately trying to hold onto the harness we had ended up sharing.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We must have been holding on for over an hour as the beasts ran us over the sands in the direction of the mountains. As we crossed the desert, another storm hit us and completely ruined our visibility. We trudged through as best we could until nightfall was almost upon us and I could barely see where I was going anymore. The banthas we were riding eventually slowed and started groaning in what I interpreted as exhaustion, so we finally loosened our grips and slid down beside the creature, hoping to use its bulk to protect us from some of the winds. It was only thanks to keeping in sight of the pack beast that I knew I wasn't walking in the wrong direction and was keeping close to the group. The kids, God bless them, kept us all together and walking in the same direction. Daniel was walking next to me, behind the beast, but was starting to struggle. Eventually, I saw him collapse onto the ground either from tripping or sheer exhaustion.

"Jackson!" I called out to him, but he remained unresponsive. I walked back over to him and shielded him from the wind with my body as best as I could. I tried to carry him back to the group, but I has feeling the strain myself and could barely get the exhausted archeologist up and slumped against me, let alone catch us up to the caravan.

I don't know how long I was trudging along behind the group. It was probably only minutes, but it felt like hours. But then I heard Skaara's voice on the wind and I looked up to see Skaara and two of his buddies moving back toward us. I then heaved Daniel up, carrying him forward where two of the kids took him from me and Skaara led us all to an outcropping of rock at the base of a small mountain that had only been about a hundred yards in front of us, but had been obscured from my sight in the storm.

We entered the cave opening, the surface smoothed over from countless years of sand blowing against them. There was a path up the inside of what looked like a small cliff and we walked up it and into a more extensive set of caves.

As soon as I was inside, I gently set a recovering Daniel on the floor beside the fire someone had started and then sat down myself among the large group of Abydonians and the rest of my team. It seemed they got here before us and we were some of the last to return. Skaara must have come back out for us when he realized we had fallen behind. I sighed and drank the water someone handed me. I hadn't had my canteen when we'd fled and was feeling pretty dehydrated.

"Su callah de rhea!" Skaara cheered and the rest of his friends joined him. He then knelt beside me and showed me the MP5 he was carrying. "Mey-ka ter wa-shu yu gon-dah!" Skaara said proudly as he gestured around us and his friends hoisted up their own weapons for me to see.

"Here, colonel," Kawalsky offered me some more water.

"Thanks," I replied as I slurped down the water, already starting to feel better. I then looked around at the kids who were handling the rifles with quite a bit of skill for people who had likely never seen firearms before.

"So, whaddya think, sir?" Kawalsky asked. "I mean, they're not exactly special forces, but they sure are eager to join up," he said, laughing a bit at the absurdity of the situation.

"They seem to have gotten pretty good at handling them," I replied. "Your handiwork, I presume?"

"Yeah. Brown and I taught them a few things when we saw them fumbling with them a bit and they all learned pretty quick," he said. "Beats me how they did it, but they got their hands on the extra gear we brought with us."

"Well, I sure as hell won't turn down the extra help," I grinned. "That was a hell of a rescue they pulled off."

I then reached out to Skaara, who was still kneeling next to me. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye to convey as much sincerity as I could with my next words. "Thank you, Skaara."

The kid had a smile from ear to ear and patted my own shoulder and nodded. He understood the sentiment if not the exact words.

"So, what's the game plan then, sir?" Ferretti asked from across the fire.

"For the moment we heal up and plan our next move. Ra is going to be searching for us," I began, but Daniel had awoken at this point and cut me off.

"Why don't you just tell them everything?" he asked as he looked at me accusingly. "Why don't you tell 'em about the bomb?"

"Jackson, I told you, it wasn't my plan," I protested. "General West may have ordered it, but I had no intention of using it against an empty planet, let alone once I saw all these people living here."

"You still could've told us. Told me," he replied, insistently.

I sighed. "I was hoping it would have been unnecessary," I said. "And for what it's worth, once it was clear Ra had the bomb and knew what it was, I told the others while we were locked up. I may have been under orders to keep it quiet, but the situation has changed so I'm choosing to countermand those orders. We won't use it unless we have no choice and even then, only as a last resort to protect Earth."

"We know the score and follow our orders, Jackson," Riley added. "But that doesn't make us monsters. West may have ordered that bomb here, but there's no way we're using it on a bunch of innocent people."

"Daniel," I said, using his first name for the first time. He seemed about to fire off another retort at us but stopped at my use of his first name. "We brought it with us to ensure the stargate would be destroyed if necessary and to prevent an invasion if it seemed one was likely," I continued. "As soon as we found other people living out here and so close to the gate, I immediately disregarded using the nuke. These people don't deserve death for circumstances outside of their control."

"Well, your bomb is in Ra's hands now. And tomorrow, he's going to send it back to Earth along with a shipment of that mineral they mine here. And when that thing goes off, it's going to cause an explosion a hundred times more destructive than that bomb alone is capable of," Daniel said, more calmly but still obviously angry at the situation. Not that I could blame him.

"Shit," I sighed. "That gives us a limited window to make a grab for it or disable it. We're gonna need a plan to keep it from going anywhere near the gate. We can't afford to give Ra a shot at sending it through."

"Sir, I understand compartmentalizing information, but why wasn't I told all this? Why were you the only one on the team to know?" Kawalsky asked.

"I argued for you at least to be told, Kawalsky," I said. "But West was adamant. He ordered my complete silence on this and was even less likely to concede once it became clear we were bringing a civilian along. Originally, the plan was for us to go back through the Stargate and leave that bomb ticking away behind us to explode."

"It's the gate on our side that poses the problem," Daniel replied. "We can just shut it down and be done with it. We don't have to destroy this one."

That wasn't anywhere close to an option as far as I was concerned, but I wasn't going to argue the point here and now.

"I know," I said instead. "But burying the gate on our side would have taken time that we may not have had. So, the way I see it, there's only one way left to use that bomb and not harm the people here. First, we'll seize the temple and kill a guard who has the activator for that ring transporter thing by the stargate Then, we'll take it off of him and intercept the bomb while forcing Ra to cut his losses and take off from the planet either from pressure from our assault or hopefully, with the locals inciting a rebellion and scaring him into orbit to either run or enable him to use whatever weapons that ship of his has. Then, we teleport the bomb through the rings and blow his ship up while it's out of blast range," I said resolutely.

There was silence at my announcement. "How are we going to do all that?" Brown asked.

"Well for a start, we'll need Skaara and his friend's help to get the rebellion going. We'll need to figure out a way into the temple so we can kill the guards. We wait in ambush for the bomb to be brought to the gate and then kill them too. Then either we kill the guards that come and try to stop us or the rebellion kicks off and makes Ra leave. All we need to do is figure out some contingencies and work out the details," I explained.

There was silence at my explanation. "I think that could work," Kawalsky said, nodding. I saw the other members of my team starting to come around to the idea, but Skaara and his friends were eating and moving around while we talked, clearly having no idea what we were discussing.

I stood up and walked over to where Daniel was sitting and smoothed out a patch of sand in front of him while waving Skaara over to us.

"Then we've got some more planning to do," I grinned. "Daniel, if you would be so kind to translate for our new friends here."

**~SG-WOLF~**

We stayed up for most of the night planning the rebellion. I had recently just gone to sleep, getting in some much-needed rest when Daniel woke me up. I'll admit, I was a bit on edge from all we were going through. Plus, I had never been very pleasant when woken up by others touching me. When Daniel started shaking me, I reacted by reaching out and grabbing him by his shirt with both of my hands. I realized who he was pretty quickly though and let go to start rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Christ, Daniel," I said sleepily. "Sorry about that. What's up?"

"I found it!" he said quickly.

"Found what, your girlfriend? It's about damn time; she's been giving you signals all night," I grunted before yawning loudly.

"What? No! What the hell are you even talking about?" Daniel squawked.

"Daniel, she's been giving you 'the look' all night," I grinned. "At some point I saw you walk after Sha're deeper into the cave, so I assumed you were making your move before tomorrow happens."

"Well for your information, she and I are married," he said in a casual way, but I could tell he was as happy as I'd ever seen him.

"Married? Hell, congratulations," I said genuinely. I knew those two would end up together sometime, likely tonight, but it was nice that their future was looking bright. Those two really did seem to be falling in love with one another.

"Hmm?" he blinked before realization hit his eyes and he remembered why he was here. "Oh, right! I know what the seventh symbol is now!"

"That's good news, Daniel. Always knew you'd get it right. But remember when I said we could just run down the list of possible combinations before finding whichever was the one that worked?"

Daniel suddenly looked a bit sheepish as he remembered that. "Oh, yeah," he said, remembering.

"Still though," I said, lying back down to get some rest. "At least we can get it on the first try now. Good work. Now, let me get _some_ damn sleep before we head out tomorrow, alright?"

I really liked the guy, but man he could be such a nerd sometimes.

**~SG-WOLF~**

The heat of the midday sun beat down mercilessly upon the land.

The sand was scalding to touch and making movement in some places difficult.

The sound of thousands of primitive hand tools striking stone filled the air.

Audible over all of this activity, Horus Guards yelled angrily at the workers.

The Abydonians were working the mines now under both the hot sun and new jaffa overseers. Ra was thoroughly displeased that elements of the local population were clearly assisting the human invaders and had sent his jaffa out to keep a closer eye on his slaves. A Horus Guard walked menacingly toward a slave who was struggling with a heavy load and struck the end of his staff into the slave's side, yelling at him to get back to work. The slave fell over onto the hot sand, clutching his side in agony.

In that same instant, several of the 'slaves' rose up with firearms pointed at the Horus Guard. Shocked by this sudden reversal, the Horus Guard froze. He hadn't even readied his staff weapon by the time I came at him from his side and drove a knife through his heart. The kids had initially wanted to plan this ambush with as much firepower as possible, but I had managed to dissuade them. Our supply of ammunition wasn't infinite and we were going to need as much of it as possible when we made our assault on the pyramid. They had agreed once I put it in those terms and we had come up with a modified plan that still killed the overseers at the mines but conserved our ammunition.

Jaffa might be tough, but even they couldn't survive a blade through the heart. But just in case they lasted long enough to be a problem, we had the kids standing by with the spare guns. I turned to check on Kawalsky, Ferretti and Freeman who were all taking on this guy's partner. Uncaring of his buddy hitting another slave, the jaffa hadn't even had his head turned our way when we took him down and hadn't seen Kawalsky ram his own knife into his back. However, that wasn't apparently enough as the guard flailed back while trying to grapple with the major and ended up falling to the ground as blood poured from the serious wound. Ferretti was standing by however and fired three shots from his 9mm sidearm into his unprotected side. The Horus Guard twitched a few more times but stilled shortly after that.

Kasuf looked on in horror as I turned to my team and motioned them to continue with the plan. Quickly, the kids came forward and took the staff weapons and even the large curved blades the Horus Guard all wore on their hips in place of a sidearm. We decided to get these two since they were so isolated and believed they could be easily picked off. Plus, it'd be easier to arrange the next part of our plan if we came here first.

It seemed however that Kasuf wasn't having a good day. He cried out to us in Abydonian as Skaara came forward, speaking frantically and angrily with his son.

Skaara argued hotly with his father, but Kasuf just forced him onto his knees as he began to pray, the others following his example. Skaara continued to try to get him to see reason, but he did not falter.

"Kasuf!" Daniel called to him, and the old chieftain paused in his prayers, caught off guard for a moment by Daniel's presence.

Daniel took this opportunity as he walked over to the dead Horus Guard beside me, blood still pouring from his still body. "Take a look at your Gods," he spoke in the Abydonian dialect as he pressed the button on the guard's helmet, making it fold back into itself and reveal the jaffa's shocked face behind it. "Take a good look," he finished off as he walked over to me, Sha're following after him. A low level of chatter arose from those closest to the dead jaffa as they all saw the face. Kasuf rose to his feet, as did all of the slaves.

We spent the next hour convincing Kasuf and several of his subordinate chieftains to act against Ra. At first, he was unsure. Even with the empirical evidence in front of them, he and the other leaders all had a lifetime of conditioning to overcome to even consider attacking their god or any of his servants even in spite of the cruelties Ra enacted on them. But Daniel played it smart and spoke with a lot of passion in his words, so after a lot more persuasion, Kasuf finally agreed and the two of them got the others on board with the plan.

While this was going on, my team and the kids were loading up the carts that were supposed to be filled with the naquadah that Ra was going to use to enhance the nuke before sending it to Earth. We took out most of the naquadah and instead filled the carts with the extra weapons and a bit of regular stone to make sure they looked as full as possible without being of any actual use. No sense bringing this prick extra bomb material if we could avoid it and it's not like the jaffa were going to dig that deep into the carts if/when they searched them. If they did, I figured we'd have plenty of warning to take them out first.

While Kasuf and his subordinate chieftains gathered up a fighting force in case this all went bust, we journeyed to Ra's ship with the wagons that were loaded with the 'expected' delivery. As we came in sight of the entrance of the temple, we noted that there were now several guards at the top and at base of the ramp and likely inside the temple.

As we got closer, Kawalsky spoke up from beside me. "Lotta guards today, sir," he noted. "We still going forward as planned?"

"Before Kasuf begins his role of the attack, we'll have to do what we can to kill off as many guards to keep casualties as low as possible," I remarked as we kept walking, now coming under the shadow of the pyramid ship. "We didn't bring enough weapons for everyone, so us striking first will ensure the best effect and kill the most guards. If the bomb isn't already in the temple, we'll need to grab one of the activator gauntlets for those ring teleporters and go into the ship to get it back."

I really didn't envy the idea of going onto that ship and fighting our way through. I had no idea what sort of defenses Ra would have or how many of the ship's crew would be ready and waiting to repel us. As I remembered it, the bomb was already waiting for O'Neill and the others at the gate and that wasn't necessary. However, I was trying to not rely one hundred percent on my memories of the film since I had already managed to change some things and not everything seemed to match exactly with the film. For example, the film had never shown just how many damned jaffa Ra had brought with him. I chalked it up to the differences of working with a movie budget and dealing with reality.

"Then, when the rebellion is in full swing, Ra will do one of two things. Either he'll show off his 'godly' power by blasting us from space to bring the Abydonians under control again or he'll just fuck off. Either way, he'll take off. Then, we use the gauntlet to teleport the bomb to his ship, set it off and enjoy the show."

"Sir, a lot of things have to go right if we're to pull it off," Brown remarked.

"I know, but it's the best plan we've got now. We've discussed contingencies, but I'd like to end this with as little loss of life to us and the locals as possible," I replied.

We had, as a matter of course, discussed contingencies and didn't like our alternatives. While we didn't want to use the bomb, we knew that letting Ra get away would be a bad thing. Skaara had boldly declared that he and his people would drive him off again, but I had my doubts as to whether he wouldn't just come back with a fleet and glass the whole place from orbit.

Daniel had been very forthcoming with the bomb and described it as a weapon of great power. Maybe he was still a bit salty about us bringing it along, but I wasn't apologizing for having it. I told him that if we detonated it at the temple, it'd kill Ra but also everyone there, including us. The settlement might be far enough away to avoid the worst of it, but I honestly wasn't sure of the effective blast range and especially not if it had already been tampered with by Ra.

Eventually, we had decided that the risk was necessary, although Daniel didn't like it. We all swore not to allow it to happen unless there was no other choice, but I didn't expect it to come to that. Anyone left at the mines would almost certainly be killed and I didn't know how the unprocessed naquadah would react to the blast. I recalled one episode where it showed catastrophic results when a new bomb was tested, but I didn't know if that bomb was just special or if any nuclear device would incur the same results.

In any case, I sure as hell wasn't planning on letting it come to that.

The guard at the base of the ramp held up his hand to order us to stop. He spoke with Skaara at the head of our column and then pointed to the temple while saying something in a commanding tone.

My group then continued up the ramp to the temple while Kawalsky's group and Skaara remained behind with the other three quarters of our group. Daniel and Sha're were still with my group as well as two of the older kids.

As we walked up the ramp, I lowered my head so the Horus guards wouldn't see my face. We moved inside the temple and stopped as a third Horus guard joined the two door guards who had walked in with us. We all kept out heads bowed and, one by one, our hoods were forcibly removed by the three jaffa.

I was the third to have my hood removed after the two native kids who wouldn't seem suspicious to the guards. When he removed mine, I brought up my MP5 and pointed it at his chest. He looked down and then back at me rapidly, as if he wasn't sure what had just happened.

"How ya doin?'" I quoted from the original movie where this moment took place. I smirked evilly before letting loose a long burst from my weapon right into this bastard's gut. He flailed back before falling to the ground, his guts shredded

The others readied their own weapons and began to fire at the remaining two. However, it seemed that these guys were quicker on the uptake than their buddy as the first guy's two comrades both retreated behind pillars, rounds scratching their armor and sparks flashing in the low light of the room as I fired a few more shots, but only hit their armor. The others quickly followed my lead and got behind cover, Daniel and Sha're sharing cover behind a stone pillar and pulling out pistols.

I quickly flattened myself against the pillar closest to the door where I saw Kawalsky and the others double timing it to make it up the ramp as the door began to close. One of the Horus Guards must have triggered the door to start closing when they realized this was an ambush. I cursed aloud as I looked around for an obvious door control to prevent it from sealing, but there was nothing. The control must have been on one of the guards or even have been triggered on the ship.

It looked like Kawalsky and a few of the others at least were about to make it as they reached the top of the ramp, still sprinting for the door. It was then that an energy blast was directed at the floor of the entrance by one of the jaffa we were fighting inside, throwing up stone fragments as well as dust into the faces of our reinforcements and bringing them to a stop as they were blinded.

The door then shut, locking out our reinforcements.

I whipped around from the pillar I was taking cover behind and fired another long burst into the chest of the jaffa who had revealed himself to make that shot, my shots sending him screaming backward as they tore through him. His buddy was quickly taken down after that as he tried to charge Daniel and Sha're, only to fall to the combined fire from them and two kids who had crouched behind the cart to grab weapons of their own when the shooting started.

A sudden screeching sound reached us from outside and I knew that our surprise was over and that Ra's gliders had been dispatched to destroy the forces outside. The sound of gunfire and of our captured staff weapons reached my ears as Kawalsky's group engaged the fighter ships.

I reached for my radio. "Kawalsky, report!" I ordered.

"_Door's shut tight from out here, sir!"_ I heard his reply over the sound of gunfire. _"Two fighter craft have launched from the pyramid and are making runs at us from above. We won't be able to stay by the door!"_

"Understood," I said over the radio. "Try to find cover. Try to last as long as you can but remember Plan Possum."

"…_Understood, sir!"_ Kawalsky said. _"Good luck!"_

'Plan Possum' was one of the contingencies I had 'come up with' back in the cave. I remembered how easily those pilots had been fooled in the movie and had brought it up as a logical fallback if it seemed like we were about to be overwhelmed at some point. These jaffa were used to bullying the crap out of less advanced civilizations and had been top dog around here for a while. If we were to surrender, we might have a shot at getting them in close enough that we could overwhelm them.

There had been some doubts as to my reasoning, but I had brought up the two fighters that had strafed the settlement the other day. Skaara had told us how they had fired randomly into the small city and yelled at them from above with impunity. I reasoned that these guys would probably use these fighters again if we were caught outside. So, if we acted like we had been cowed by the bastards, it seemed likely they would retreat or even land to take us prisoner. That would leave them vulnerable to us on the ground.

The others seemed still a little doubtful, so I threw out there that we could use the staff weapons we'd captured at the mine to try and shoot them down. Plan Possum was a contingency, albeit not a very good one. Everyone had perked up when I mentioned how me might be able to shoot the gliders down with the staff weapons, but I held my own doubts to that happening to myself. I recalled a scene from one of the episodes where O'Neill and Teal'c had tried doing so with captured staff weapons and not having any success.

"Let's move!" I called as I jogged over to the entrance of the gate room. We entered the small room, searching for any more jaffa, but not finding any. I spotted the bomb sitting on a small litter in front of the gate with some sort of weird alien tech lying beside it. I figured that must be part of the naquadah enhancement process Ra was going to hook up, but it looked like it hadn't been attached to anything yet. I stood the main component upright and started examining the bomb for any more tampering.

I slotted the detonator into the top and flipped on the display switch. The timer flashed on and showed one minute but wasn't counting down. I sighed in relief. I didn't recall exactly how it was in the movie, but I remember that the timer was stuck on a countdown and they were on the clock to fix the situation. Thankfully, it seemed Ra here had decided against leaving a ticking nuke under his feet until he was ready to send it through the stargate to Earth.

I then turned on my radio as Daniel and Sha're came up behind me to see what I was doing. The two kids had stayed at the top of the ramp to be on the lookout for any reinforcements coming in through the temple from elsewhere.

"Kawalsky! Come in!" I spoke into the radio.

_"Colonel, we're holding on, but we're still pinned down by two bogies! They're moving too fast for us to get in many hits with the staffs!"_ Kawalsky's voice came through.

A fearful cry from Sha're was the only warning we had that something was wrong behind us.

But I was waiting for this.

I spun around, raising my MP5 up and taking aim at a Horus Guard that had descended the ramp, his staff at the ready. Rounds from my weapon struck him center of mass and threw of his aim as he went down. A blast from his staff weapon whizzed past Daniel and Sha're's heads and struck the back wall. The jaffa never had an opportunity as I emptied the rest of my magazine into his torso, enough rounds tearing through his unprotected flesh to send him back onto the dusty ground, dead or dying.

I stood up and walked over to the two. "You two ok?" I asked. Daniel nodded jerkily at the close call we'd just had and Sha're seemed to be holding it together well enough. She seemed to get what I was asking, even if she didn't understand the Earth slang because she turned to me and nodded, although I noticed her clutching her weapon a bit tighter than she was before.

I turned to Daniel. "Get ready for any reinforcements that might come through that teleporter," I warned. He nodded and spoke to Sha're, the two of them standing ready with one of them standing on either side of the teleporter to catch whomever came down in a crossfire.

I head up to the top of the small ramp to find out what had happened to the two kids we had left guarding this place. I reached the top and couldn't find any sign of them. I cursed as I realized they must have gone off into one of the attached rooms to look for more jaffa or something. As if to confirm my thoughts, I heard more gunfire come from what sounded like one of the small opened doors to the left of me. At the same time, I heard the sounds of the ring transport activating behind me. Cursing as I didn't want to leave Daniel and Sha're to deal with the First Prime alone, I raced back down the ramp, my MP5 at the ready.

I reached the bottom and didn't have to wait long as the rings finished activating and brought down the First Prime. He was facing Daniel with his helmet deactivated as the archaeologist pointed Brown's spare sidearm at him. As soon as the last ring rose over his head, I fired a burst at his surprisingly unprotected back. My shots had the expected effect, as did Sha're's and Daniel's.

'_Well, that was terribly easy,'_ I thought, glad to have avoided both Daniel's almost suicidal trip into the pyramid ship to save Sha're and the drawn-out fistfight with the First Prime.

"Now what?" Daniel asked.

"Stay here," I replied as I looked at the timer. Ra's ship still hadn't taken off, so we still had some time. "I'll be right back." I took off back up the ramp.

I raced back up the ramp and took a left into one of the now revealed attached chambers that were part of a much larger interior of the temple. I went through two more rooms, still looking for jaffa, but my goal was to find out what happened to those two kids we brought with us.

I reached a third room and found them. One of them had taken a hit to his leg and it looked bad. The kid was sitting against the wall, crying and moaning as he clutched his leg, which now looked crispy from the intense cauterization a staff weapon would cause.

At least he was looking better than his friend.

In the middle of the room, with another dead jaffa lying next to him was the body of the other kid. I didn't bother checking if he was still alive since I could tell right away that he was already dead. His head was nearly severed from his body and the cause was obvious as the Horus Guard was clutching the curved blade in his hand that was still slick with the blood of the young man. The jaffa must have gotten the drop on these two and had killed the first, only to be taken down by the second kid against the wall.

I felt a cold knot sink into my gut as I saw the dead body of the teenager in the chamber floor. A part of me was angry that the two idiots had run off looking for the enemy. Another part of me was angry at myself for not keeping a closer eye on them when they had the absolute minimal amount of training before coming on this mission. And another part was angry at this whole damn situation and the already dead Horus Guard.

A noise brought my attention to the back of the room where some sort of stone benches were sitting. Crouching behind them were about a dozen small, recognizable faces. The kids Ra kept hanging around him.

I had no idea what these kids were doing here, but I couldn't just leave them here. I started coaxing them out, putting my MP5 by my side by its strap as I held out my hands and tried waving them out of the corner.

I wasn't sure it was going to work at first, but a few of the older ones who couldn't have been thirteen yet, started coming out and led the younger ones out of the corner. The older kids were holding the hands of the youngest ones, perhaps four or five as they led them out. All of the kids tried very hard to avoid looking at the two corpses in the middle of the room as they came out and stood a few feet away from me, waiting for me to do something or say something.

Unfortunately, I still had no idea how to speak goa'uld and I had no idea how to communicate with these kids other than with gestures. Not even bothering to try to verbally communicate with these kids, I simply went over to the wounded Abydonian teen against the wall and picked him up in a fireman carry, which would allow me to still raise my weapon if there were still any more jaffa hiding around here somewhere. He was looking in rough shape, but he'd probably still make it if we could get him some medical attention. I didn't have a first aid kit on me, but I was sure one of the others outside did.

"Come on," I said, waving my arm to try and get the kids to follow me back through the temple towards the entrance. Seemingly reluctantly, the kids followed behind me at a small distance, still clutching one another. We left the bodies behind as I led them back into the main chamber, depositing the wounded teen onto the ground by the still shut entrance. The kids hung nearby and I gestured them to stay put as well as I could before turning and heading back to the gate room.

I jogged back down the ramp to find Daniel and Sha're both still guarding the nuke and the teleporter which it seemed hadn't activated again since the body of the First Prime was still lying on the ground where the rings were supposed to drop.

"Where did you go?" Daniel asked as soon as he'd realized I'd returned.

"One of the kids up top is dead. The other one is wounded and by the door," I told him, not wanting to get into a detailed explanation.

Daniel held a look of brief realization on his face before it shifted to sadness. I went over to the body of the dead First Prime and worked to get the activator gauntlet off of his wrist. There were several gems on it and I was hoping one of them opened the door outside as well as activate the rings.

I then heard a loud roar come from outside, clearly audible even in here. I smiled as I realized it was the sound of thousands of voices yelling. "Sounds like Kasuf came through for us," I smiled.

I then walked over to the nuke and hefted it over to the ring spot by the body of the First Prime. I had to move the body aside to make room for the bomb, but Daniel and Sha're helped me by doing that once they realized what I was doing. I placed it carefully on the floor and extended the legs on the side to keep it upright while I worked on it.

I turned on the radio and called into it. "Kawalsky, the package is ready! Report!"

_"Sir, Kasuf and the other Abydonians just arrived and saved us!"_ the Lieutenant's voice came through. I saw smiles break out on Daniel and Sha're at this news, though Sha're's smile grew much bigger once Daniel translated what was being said.

At that moment, the whole pyramid began to shake violently, sending dust down from the ceiling onto us. "What's going on?" Daniel yelled over the noise.

"It's Ra's ship! He's taking off!" I replied. I then turned and smiled to the two of them as I knew we had him right where we wanted him now.

"Then we have him. Let's get outside!" I called to Daniel. He nodded and the three of us ran out of the room, into the main temple hall and up to the doors, which were still closed. Daniel and Sha're were surprised to see the kids there, but quickly were distracted as I hit one of the other jeweled buttons on the gauntlet and caused the temple entrance to open. Daniel and Sha're both helped pick up the wounded teen as we came outside and saw the crowd of thousands of Abydonians cheering and yelling as Ra's ship ascended up into the clouds. We ran outside and looked up in time to see the outer layers of Ra's ship close up, preparing to lift off.

We watched in awe as the giant ship slowly lifted higher off of the pyramid and as it gained altitude, it gained speed. Soon, the ship was getting harder to spot as it was quickly rising even higher. I took the detonator for the nuke and hit the activator switch for the countdown. The nuke now had less than a minute before it went off, but now I had the activator gauntlet for the rings in my hand.

"That's right you gaudy bastard; **run**!" I shouted as I pressed the large blue/green gem on the gauntlet I was holding. A few seconds later, we watched the matter stream shoot out of the top of the pyramid and into the sky. There were only a few seconds left on the nuke's detonator.

"Aw shit, I had something for this," I muttered frantically. I was thinking last night about saying something cool like an action film when I hit the detonator, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was now!

'_Uhh, something, something…'_ I thought frantically before picking the first thing that came to mind.

"Choke on this you gaudy looking space pansy!" A second later there was a bright flash in the sky and a giant shockwave raced out from the point of origin. The shockwave was visible from all the way up in the upper atmosphere as I pictured Ra getting a face full of nuclear death as he was atomized by the explosion.

There was silence before the entire crowd began to cheer for joy. We looked out over all the thousands of people cheering and raising their fists into the air and waiving improvised weapons as they cheered madly. And a warm feeling rose up inside me. It was a feeling of accomplishment. We had freed these people. A month ago, I never would have believed myself capable of this.

We had done it. I had done it.

'_I can do this,'_ I thought to myself, the thought bringing me a feeling of contentment as I looked at the proof that I wasn't in over my head and that I was capable of fulfilling the mission I had been given.

Then, I watched as Skaara and a few of his Abydonian friends walked up the ramp a bit, with Skaara looking surprisingly serious all of a sudden. I recalled what was coming next. It turned out I was right as he slowly brought up his hand and saluted me, with his friends joining in a moment after him. Even the rest of my team joined in the moment.

"Aw hell," I muttered to myself before I saluted in reply. I then lowered my hand and turned to Daniel to make a joke about how we were all big damn heroes, but he was starting his own victory celebration early and was making out with Sha're.

"Well he's certainly not wasting any time," I noted aloud.

At that point Kasuf quieted everyone before he cried out and pumped his fist into the air, his people following his lead and cheering madly, in awe of their own victory.

These people were going to throw one hell of a party.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We stood ready to leave as the active Stargate glistened and shimmered behind us. I shook Skaara's hand before I pulled him in for a hug, which he returned.

"Stay strong, Skaara. Enjoy your victory," I said to him in badly pronounced Abydonian. I had asked Daniel how to say the words and was pretty sure my accent was terrible, but Skaara seemed to understand what I was saying just fine and smiled as he

"Thank you, my friend," he said back, surprising me with his knowledge of the english words. I figured he must have asked Daniel how to say those words before we got ready to say goodbye. That probably explained the smirk Daniel had when I asked him to teach my that phrase in Abydonian.

I walked over to where the rest of the team was saying their goodbyes to Daniel. It occurred to me that I had really done well for myself on this mission. Everyone on my team had survived and I had managed to get us all through this. Only a few of the team had made it back of the original seven-man team in the original universe and I had managed to get everyone back this time. I felt really good about that.

"Y'know, I always knew you'd get us back," Ferretti grinned.

"Yeah right," Daniel laughed as the soldier clapped his shoulder. "Later." He then stepped through.

"Hey Daniel," Brown smiled as he shook his hand. In return, Daniel handed the beretta back to him. "Thanks for that. It really helped," Daniel replied.

"Anytime, man. You stay safe," Brown nodded before he also stepped through the stargate.

"Appreciate the rescue, doc," Freeman said, shaking Daniel's hand. "Let's not do it again anytime soon." Daniel laughed, shaking his and Riley's hands as they went to stand by the gate, waiting for Kawalsky since they had agreed to go through as a group since it was part of the story they'd be telling once they stepped through.

"Thanks, Daniel," Kawalsky said as he shook his hand. "You take care of yourself." He then joined the others by the gate before the three of them stepped through to give the illusion that they had been rushing.

I walked up to him. "I guess this is it," he said.

I then pulled him into a hug. "It's been a hell of a trip, Daniel."

"It has," he replied as we released one another. "Thank you, Lennex. This really was the adventure of a lifetime and I owe you a lot for getting us through this."

"Aw, hell," I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed by his words. "Smart guy like you? You'd have been fine otherwise."

"Probably not," he replied. "You gonna be okay?"

"Sure will," I replied. "We've got the story straight. Those 'souvenirs' we're coming back with will only add credibility to our story so you should all be fine as long as you get this thing taken down and covered before too long." I jerked a thumb at the still active stargate behind me.

I had run through the story of our escape back to the stargate with everyone else and we had all agreed on the details. We'd be leaving behind most of our stuff since it had been taken from us in the first place. However, we'd managed to overpower the guards at the gate and snagged their weapons before coming back through, leaving me to activate the nuke before following them through.

As far as the report would say, we'd been captured the day after arriving and had not had more than minimal contact with the slaves here. We'd arranged our own escape and made it back to the gate, but Daniel had been left behind, sacrificing himself to get us the information on how to dial back and giving the rest of us the chance to escape. It was all more or less what had been the story when O'Neill had done it, but I was making a change this time.

I was bringing back a few souvenirs with us.

I had suggested it both to add evidence to our story and to appease my own mind over leaving all of this stuff in the hands of the Abydonians since I knew they weren't going to be using it. We were bringing back three staff weapons and one of the folding helmets. Specifically, the jackal one the First Prime was wearing. I took a fiendish delight in the idea of handing that smug prick's helmet over to be taken apart by human scientists.

I had mentioned it originally as part of our cover story and had also professed some of my other reasoning here to get the others to agree. It would make sense if we were carrying the weapons we'd used to free ourselves with when we came back through. Also, three staff weapons meant a lot more than just the implied weapons advancements they represented. They also contained advanced power generation and metallurgy techniques which had far more lasting beneficial implications for Earth. And since Earth didn't have any of that mineral (naquadah) to power it, it wasn't like we would be giving the US energy weapons to go to war with her neighbors with and upset the balance of power with either.

However, the technology that went into creating them would teach us a lot and jump a few civilian sciences ahead by a few years once we understood them. It was that last one which had convinced Daniel that it was a good idea, since he understood the good that could come out of that kind of technology. I had told him I thought sci-fi guns were cool too, but these things represented a lot more to a civilization with an understanding of science advanced enough to unlock their secrets.

Once the SGC got going, we might be able to pick up more staff weapons and helmets to study, but I was completely in favor of tweaking the timeline a bit and giving us a year's head start on understanding goa'uld tech. Plus, it wasn't like those three staff weapons and a helmet would drastically shift the balance of power on Earth. The tech would stop working once the power ran out and there was no naquadah deposits on Earth to easily replicate the tech. Once those three staffs were depleted, they wouldn't fire again. Not to mention there was no way any soldier was going to carry those ungainly things into combat with him by choice once he found out how unwieldly and hard to aim they were.

But back to now, it was time for me to say my farewell to Daniel. "You behave yourself out here, 'Chicken Man,'" I said, smirking as my eyes flicked over to Sha're. She smiled at me in response. "Well, maybe not _too_ well behaved. Just try to stay out of any serious trouble, alright?"

"I will," he said, smiling as he turned to look at his new wife.

I then walked toward the Stargate, but I turned once more to get one last look at everyone who had come to see us off. Before I could leave, Daniel walked up and handed me something.

"Do me a favor? Tell Catherine that it brought me luck," he said as I looked at the Ra pendant in my hand.

"I'll be sure to leave out all the trouble it caused though," I replied and he laughed. I then stepped over to the event horizon but turned back to him.

"I'll be seeing you, Daniel" I said before I stepped through the Stargate.

**AN:**

**Finally done with the movie! I decided to quickly knock this section out as it seemed like the one big segment I had to work through and the one I already had a lot of written stuff for. Next time, we'll be jumping into the series proper with the premiere, ****Children of the Gods****!**

**I'm amazed by all the hits my story has gotten while it's still so small and I love it when you guys leave reviews! I'm always happy to hear what you guys think of what you're reading. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to PM me anytime! **

**I haven't decided on any pairings for my MC yet, but it'll be a while off if I do. Some people have told me they really want a Lennex/Sam pairing and I'll admit I haven't given it too much thought. **

**Surprisingly, I'm pretty sure those kids surviving is actually cannon via the books for the series. I picked up a few of them a few years back and remember Jack and Daniel talking about how those kids were found wandering the temple after Ra's ship was blown up. Seems like a bit of a retcon, but I remembered it while writing the chapter and decided to throw it in here while I was at it. **

**To answer a concern a reviewer had; no, I don't think I'll be making chapters like this for each episode with the exception of big story arcs like ****Children of the Gods ****or the Season One finale. For one, there isn't that much story on some of those episodes to do that with and second, I'd definitely burn myself out trying. Some episodes I have in mind will only get a brief mention since they weren't especially memorable or important. Some will be a bit longer because they're either important or I'll be adding something to flush them out. Remember, this story will have a lot of original content as well as some familiar elements.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 7: Back in the Game

I finished cooking my steak and quickly put it onto my plate. I grabbed the silverware and quickly walked back to my living room where my paused game was waiting for me. As it turned out, Hideo Kojima had done a bit better for himself in this universe. The second Metal Gear game was better received and earned him a better contract to create his third game much sooner than in my original universe. Fortunately, the tech was a bit more advanced than I remember it being during my own 90's, so gaming technology was up to the task of handling _'__Snake Eater__'_ just as well as I remembered.

Strangely, it wasn't even the year 2000 yet, but cellphones also seemed like they'd soon become a thing as all technology seemed to be advancing faster than I remembered it. At first, I had thought it was just faulty memory on my part since this had all been happening during my childhood and it wasn't like I'd have been paying attention to the dates, but I had taken the time since my return from Abydos to watch the news and really go over my own notes as well as the things I'd remembered, but didn't dare keep hard copies of written down anywhere.

The world seemed to be moving slightly…quicker than before. I know that sounds weird, but it was my first conclusion as I started crunching numbers and comparing events to dates I was fiercely certain of. I'd wondered how that was possible since I knew it couldn't have been caused by me in the short time I had been here. It really bugged me for awhile until I remembered how shows would seemingly make leaps forward in time.

The reason for that was always how the show would have seasons and need time to film more episodes for the next season. The writers would generally disregard the date unless it was important to the story and we, the audience, would just accept it. However, from an in-universe perspective, it looked like there was always a low-level technological renaissance going on behind the scenes. Characters would suddenly have cell phones even though it didn't match with the year the show was taking place in. From that perspective, I wondered what other changes I could expect other than a seemingly slightly accelerated timeline. The 90's were already an economic and cultural booming period, but how much more of a boost could I expect when we started bringing back more stuff from off world missions?

And speaking of off world; after fabricating the semi-false report of what happened on the Abydos mission with Kawalsky and the rest of the team, I had retired from the Air Force and had settled down at my new home in Colorado Springs, just like O'Neill did the first time around. The staff weapons and the helmet we brought back were immediately handed over to the scientists on base to drool over and study. We were asked a few questions on how they worked before they were shipped off for detailed study elsewhere. From there, I had decided to focus on getting my mind used to my new knowledge, my new body and the timeline I was in.

But I couldn't stand the idea of just sitting around and not doing anything until I was recalled. I had a new body and a new lease on life and I intended to do something with it. So, I started by going on a little vacation overseas, which had been one of the things I had been thinking about while I was waiting to die in that hospital. Nowhere crazy, just a little resort I picked out in Malaysia. I spent a month at a seaside resort right on the beach and enjoyed the seafood and company of the locals. It was a great time and I enjoyed myself and all the great things that Langkawi had to offer.

After having my fun, I returned to the US and Colorado Springs. I had used the rest of my surprisingly considerable funds to purchase a home, have it furnished and a car. I thought about taking some classes at the community college that may help me later down the line but thought better of it. I already had the memories and qualifications floating around my head for several courses my benefactors had decided to leave me with. Nothing too spectacular, but I was glad to know that I was no one's idiot.

So, I decided instead to pass the time between reading and planning for the next few years by occasionally volunteering with the community on local projects. Among my qualifications was a teaching certification and all I had to do to be allowed to teach in the state of Colorado was to pass a certification test and an interview.

I certainly wasn't looking for anything permanent, but I was upfront and honest with them about my situation. I was just a retired Air Force officer with a lot of free time on his hands and wasn't looking for a new career path but wanted to stay active. I left the interview feeling alright but didn't care much if I was turned down or not. I was certain there were other ways to pass the time if this didn't pan out.

However, I had gotten a surprisingly good response from the school district just a few days later. Apparently, they could really use some help with their ROTC programs and not many parents had the experience or time to contribute much to the program. They wanted me to teach and mentor a couple of their kids at different schools and help the ones that were considering a career in the military.

I had accepted the offer and had a new job three or four days out of the week. I'd helped train and shape some of these kids as well as I could for an extracurricular program. It was just good fun for the most of them, but I made sure that if they were going to wear a uniform and participate in certain activities, they were going to do it right. I had given a few lectures and classes on different aspects of the military to them and they had seemed mostly receptive to what I said.

Apparently, word was getting passed around since I was being asked to 'spread the love' as it were. I had started just talking to one group of high school kids, but soon I was being asked to attend competitions as a chaperone and visit other schools in the area to provide some basic training to their students as well. I felt a little peeved at times that they were clearly trying to get as much fulltime work out of me as they were able to without the pay, but I didn't mind so much. I actually had a bit of fun since some of those kids were really interested in what I had to say and were eager to ask me for recommendations for enlisted career paths or letters of recommendation to officer academies. They were a mostly good bunch of kids and I was happy to help. Besides, the school district really didn't seem to have much help in this area and I had nothing better going on right now.

But summer had started about a week ago and I was back to sitting around my home, passing the time. Just as I sat down to enjoy a nice meal and get ready to begin my playthrough of my new Metal Gear Solid game, a knock sounded at the door.

'_Who the hell knocks on a door at this hour?'_ I thought as I picked up the plates. "Just a moment!" I called, placing my plate and silverware on the table.

I opened the door to see two men in Air Force dress uniforms standing at my door; an officer and his enlisted aide standing behind him. I recognized the officer in front as Major Samuels. This must mean it was showtime.

"Evening," I greeted amicably. "What brings you out here?"

"Colonel Lennex MacDuff?" Samuels asked.

"Retired, actually," I replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Major Samuels," he introduced. "I'm under orders to bring you with me to Cheyanne Mountain to see General Hammond, sir."

"Who's that?"

"He replaced General West, sir," Samuels replied.

"That's nice. I was just about to sit down to dinner though, so can this wait until tomorrow?" I asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but I have to insist on now. He says it's important. It has to do with the stargate."

I paused and just looked at Samuels before I let out a long sigh. "Alright, Samuels. Whatever this is, you've convinced me it's serious. Can you give me five minutes to put my dinner in the fridge and throw on some different clothes?" I asked.

Samuels hesitated before nodding.

"Thank you for your consideration," I replied sarcastically before I shut the door a bit and went to put my dinner away and turn off the TV. Looks like I'll have to rescue Sokolov some other night.

A few minutes later, I had thrown on a new shirt and jeans and was putting on my leather jacket as I walked out to where Samuels and the airman were still waiting for me.

"Alright, let's get going."

**~SG-WOLF~**

A little less than two hours later, I found myself riding an elevator after having been escorted through the security at Cheyenne Mountain, past the NORAD section and deep into the facility. I could tell this whole place was on high alert by all of the extra attention the security guards were giving me and even Samuels as we came in, although Samuels got through a bit quicker and left me with his aide as he went to inform General Hammond that I had arrived.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened at sublevel-11 and we walked over to a sign-in desk where I placed my signature on the paper and presented my identification to yet another security guard.

"We'll have to take a second elevator the rest of the way, sir. It's a long way down," my escort said.

"I know. Been here before," I replied.

"Oh, of course sir," he nodded.

The rest of the trip down was spent in silence. Then we were out and down a hallway where Samuels was waiting at the end. My escort was relieved by the Major and we continued on to where the General's office was. Samuels knocked on the door.

"Come," came a muffled voice from inside.

Samuels quickly opened the door and we entered. "General Hammond, this is Colonel Lennex MacDuff, retired," he introduced me to the guy I was going to become well acquainted over the next several years.

General Hammond was an older man who had to be nearing retirement age. He was completely bald with a stern look on his face. He was also clearly several pounds heavier than the military liked to allow for their members, but always turned a blind eye towards if you were high enough on the food chain or were just excellent at your job and hard to replace. I was guessing it was a case of a skilled officer being too valued and respected to be let go over something like a weigh in. That certainly matched the memories of the man I had from the show. He was wearing his full dress uniform with all the require ribbons displayed, indicating a long and successful career.

"General," I nodded to him.

"Colonel, thank you for coming so quickly," he said. "I heard you'd retired. I envy you for that," he replied. At his words, I could detect nothing but honesty. I remembered that this assignment was supposed to be one last easy posting before he could retire himself and spend time with his grandkids. Not much excitement could be expected for a facility that was due to me mothballed in a few years, but he had no idea the trouble that would land in his lap. Thankfully, he was just the right kind of man for this job and would certainly rise to the occasion.

"I hear you teach ROTC kids these days," Hammond continued. "You ever consider writing a book about your experiences in the service?"

I could tell he was just making small talk to put me at ease, but I was happy to play along. "Unfortunately," I started. "most of my activities were classified over the last couple of years. I can't imagine the headache I'd be giving someone if I tried to publish my whole story and they had to make the choice between just shooting me or going through the thing line by line and redacting 80% of what I wrote. And that's a conservative estimate."

The general gave a good-natured smile at that, understanding the nature of the job and how not all of us could talk openly about the work we'd done. With that bit of chitchat out of the way, I decided to move things along a bit. "Samuels mentioned something about the Stargate?" I asked.

"Yes. There's been an incident and I want your experienced opinion on the matter," he said shortly as he stood up. "This way."

We walked out of his office and over to a secure holding room located near the infirmary. Inside were three dead jaffa lying on examination tables with varying levels of gunfire damage to their bodies.

"Anyone you know, colonel?" Hammond asked.

I looked over at the body lying closest to me and winced a bit as I saw the 'X' shaped pouch over his gut.

"They're not human," the doctor noted.

"No kidding?" I returned sarcastically.

The doctor just gave me a look before he continued. "Best as we can tell, these slits are actually a pouch, similar to that found in a marsupial."

"Like a kangaroo?" Samuels asked.

"That's right. Except…" here the doc moved to the second bed that had a sheet over it and pulled it away to reveal a woman with short black hair. "in both sexes."

I examined the second corpse as he said that and noted the different garb she had on compared to the first guy, who was wearing plate armor and a chainmail shirt. I figured that she was a priestess brought along by the jaffa or maybe Apophis to help with the selection of slaves, based on the medieval style robes she was wearing. I remembered that jaffa women could be warriors too but were traditionally kept in defensive positions by their goa'uld masters. It was rarely depicted in the show, but I was certain jaffa women did exist and would be encountered more frequently in the future.

"These people, or aliens, whatever you want to call them, came through that gate, killed four of my people and kidnapped another using advanced weapons," the General explained.

Samuels then gestured to an airman to fetch one of the advanced weapons, which turned out to be a staff weapon. The General handed it to me. I took it from him, located the activator switch and activated the weapon, amber energy sparking along the tip. I then deactivated it and held it upright next to me.

"Seen one before, I take it?" Hammond asked.

"Definitely. It's just like the ones we brought back from Abydos after we escaped. But none of the guys there had snake helmets," I said, pointing to a Serpent Guard helmet left fully deployed on the other side of the room along with the rest of the armor that had been laid out.

"I've seen the reports and I know all about that. But your report also said that this Ra was in fact some kind of alien that lived inside of a human body," said the General.

"Yeah, somehow. His voice was really deep and echoey and his eyes tended to glow at times," I replied.

The General paused, searching my expression and asked, "Are you sure he's dead, colonel?"

"Unless he could somehow survive a Mark-III nuke going off in his face, yeah. No doubt. Why are you asking?" I asked, keeping a straight face, but had the feeling Hammond already knew I was hiding something.

"Because, colonel, these people… or whatever they are, were guarding another man in gold armor who retreated back through the stargate. I got a good look at his eyes before he left, colonel. They glowed."

**~SG-WOLF~**

We then began to walk back to his office. "How do you feel about the Stargate mission after all this time, colonel?" Hammond asked.

"I don't get what you're getting at, General."

"Well, it's been just over a year. Has your perspective changed?"

"Well, as you…" I broke off as I saw Kawalsky, Brown and Ferretti sitting at a table in a small room across from the General's office. I saw Kawalsky look my way and recognize me, but the door was shut before anything more could be done about it. I followed the General back into his office with Samuels.

"Was that…" I began.

"Kawalsky, Ferretti and Brown? Yes," he confirmed. "They all served under your command on the Abydos mission. However, Freeman is deployed overseas at the moment and Riley left the Air Force for a job opportunity in the civilian sector according to my report. We'll be questioning them as well once we track them down, but those three were currently stationed in San Diego and the easiest to bring here." The general sat behind his desk "Have a seat, colonel."

I walked over to one of the seats in front of the general's desk and sat down, feeling a shift in tone from earlier. The General looked at Samuels before beginning, "Tell me about Daniel Jackson, colonel."

"Why are you questioning the rest of my team?" I deflected.

"They're not your team anymore, colonel. You're retired, remember? Daniel Jackson?" Hammond pressed.

I turned to him. "You said you've read the report. You know everything I know."

"Do we?" Samuels asked.

I paused, pretending to be slightly confused. "Unless there's something you haven't told me?" I hedged.

"You rather liked Daniel Jackson, is that right?" he asked.

"He was alright. Bit of a nerd, but that was about it," I replied.

"Didn't have a lot of time for him then?" Samuels asked.

"It's not as though we had a lot of time to get to know each other before the mission. He also saved all of our lives and was able to reactivate the Stargate so my men and I could get home," I replied with a bit of an edge creeping into my response. I was starting to remember why Samuels was regarded as something of an ass on the show.

"According to the mission brief given by General West, your orders were to go through the stargate, to scout out any possible threat to Earth and if found, to detonate a nuclear device to destroy the gate on the other side," he said.

"That's right," I replied.

"But that's not what you did, is it?" Samuels accused.

"Not at the time. Ra's forces overpowered my team and took the nuke before I could arm it," I explained.

"But, with Dr. Jackson's help, you were able to manage an escape and did, in fact, detonate the weapon?"

"Yes."

"What about the items you brought back with you?"

"The staff weapons were stolen from Ra's ship and we used them to make our escape," I supplied, keeping to the cover story. "The helmet came from the guard we killed who was guarding the stargate. I activated the nuke, grabbed the guard's fancy helmet in case it was useful and went through the stargate. We turned the items over the minute we came back."

"So to the best of your knowledge, Daniel Jackson and everyone else you knew on Abydos is dead, correct?" the General asked.

"That's right," I replied.

"Good," Hammond said as he stood up. "Then you won't mind if I authorize a go-ahead on our plan."

He exited the room and I followed after him and Samuels a moment later.

"This quartz material the stargates are made of, it must be pretty tough stuff if it can withstand a Mark-III," the General said.

"Well, as you know general, we sent a probe through after we got back. It was flattened instantly on the other end," I replied. "Even if the nuke didn't pulverize the gate, it's certainly been buried beneath several tons of radioactive rubble."

"But somehow it got unburied," the general said as we arrived in the gate room. At the base of the ramp and sitting on a small platform was a nuclear bomb, bigger than any I had ever seen in person. Several technicians were working on it and as I watched, a timer was inserted at the top of the cylinder, displaying a 24-hour countdown, already in progress.

"Damn," I muttered. "You're sending another one?"

"A Mark-V this time. This stuff may be tough, but anyone making use of the gate certainly won't survive the blast, even if the stargate somehow managed to." The General paused. "Countdown's already started. Unless you have something you'd like to add."

I paused, then sighed. "Well, this is awkward."

"You didn't detonate the bomb," Hammond stated, as though he already knew the truth.

"No sir, I did. The nuke detonated and it was on Ra's ship when it went off. So it did kill Ra and thereby eliminate the risk to Earth," I stated.

"However…?" Samuels asked leadingly.

"However," I glared at him and paused. "The ship might've been in low orbit above the planet. Neither the gate, nor anything else on the planet was destroyed. Daniel Jackson is alive and living with the people on Abydos."

"You violated direct orders. Why?" Hammond asked.

"Because I wasn't going to murder thousands of innocent people whose only crime was that they were all slaves to Ra. He was dead, so they could just live out their lives in peace. The people of Abydos are no threat to us. So, if you want to nitpick, I didn't violate my orders. I just followed them in spirit rather than by letter." I replied.

"That's not up to you…" Hammond replied, but he didn't seem too sure of himself as he said that.

"If I had come back here and reported the gate on the other side was still intact, West would've sent another bomb, just like you were about to now," I responded. "You know he would have. The man was adamant that we use the nuke at the first sign of any threat and damn the consequences. Those people represented no threat to us. They lived in tents and had no army and no technology to speak of. They welcomed us into their homes and when we asked, put it all on the line for us so that we could go home and they could be free. I'm sorry sir, but I refused to become a mass murderer that day. That's not what I signed on for," I replied seriously.

I could see that I was getting through to him, but he didn't like it. General George Hammond was a fundamentally good man and I appreciated the hell out of him for that. But today, he wasn't here as my ally. He had to be my antagonist, but I didn't resent him one bit for that.

"What about the probe we sent through? It was crushed instantly." Samuels asked.

"I told Daniel to bury their gate as soon as we left. Making my return, or anybody else's impossible," I replied.

"I've got three bodies lying in the infirmary saying otherwise as well as four dead airmen," Hammond said. I didn't have anything to say anything in return.

The general turned to one of the SFs standing by in the gate room. "Take the colonel to the holding room with the others. Give him a little time to think about things while I decide what to do with him," the General ordered.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I was shoved none too gently through the entrance to the holding room by the SF. I walked into a dimly lit room with a small table, a pair of beds and a few chairs in it. A moment later, Kawalsky stood at attention in front of me. "Sir," he said, saluting me.

"Be at ease Kawalsky, it's just us trigger pullers in here," I replied as I stuck out my hand. I used the slang term, 'trigger pullers' meant for guys who spend their careers fighting rather than stacking boxes or sitting behind desks. He looked at it before he grinned and shook it. "Me, Brown and Ferretti didn't tell them anything," he assured me. "I don't think Riley or Freeman would say anything either."

"Nice going," I smiled in return. "They're a bit harder to reach these days or they'd be here too, but I agree."

"Hey, those kids on Abydos saved our lives too," Ferretti said as he walked over. I shook his hand as well.

"Damn straight," Brown supplied. I nodded as I sat down on a chair at the table in the middle of the room.

"I mean, they're the whole reason we kept it secret," Kawalsky added. "Right?" I nodded. "There was that one kid who idolized you. Remember him?"

"Skaara," I supplied, wondering how he was doing these days.

"Remember how he was always saluting you?" he asked, laughing and imitating rapid salutes like the ones the kids kept giving me before we'd left.

"Yeah," I shook my head, smiling. "And I remember he probably got that from you when he saw you do it." I of course, had to return their salutes every time they saluted me. I thought my arm was going to fall off, they kept doing it so much!

At that point the door opened and the General walked in. Kawalsky and Brown quickly stood at attention but I took my time getting up.

"That was quick," I said. "I'm guessing you've made a decision?"

"How many people did you say were on Abydos?" Hammond asked, looking tired.

"That we saw? A good ten thousand," I replied. The General hesitated.

"Does this mean you're reconsidering sending the bomb, sir?" I asked. Kawalsky and the others tensed at the mention of sending another bomb through the gate.

"It means I'm open to suggestions," he said.

"Well that's easy. We confirm that Daniel is still alive on Abydos and that their stargate is unburied," I said.

"After that, we," I indicated the rest of my team standing in the room. "Go through to ask what's been happening on his end," I replied.

"Very well. I'll have the prototype probe shipped here from MIT," the General replied, looking relieved to have an alternative to nuking civilians.

"I can save you a bunch of money on that," I said as I looked around and spotted what I was looking for. A box of tissues sitting on the table. I grabbed it and held it up for the general to see. "Something only Daniel would understand."

**~SG-WOLF~**

Back in the gate room, we waited in the control room as the stargate started dialing up Abydos. I smiled as I watched the gate spin as it dialed. I had missed this more than I had realized. The last year had been nice, even fun at times, but I was ready to get back to the real reason I was here.

"Care to explain this concept?" the General asked.

"Daniel has allergies," I explained. "Don't ask me how or why, but he sneezes when he travels. We all saw it before and on our mission to Abydos. He'll know the message came from me and not from someone like..." I paused and looked at Samuels. "Well, you."

"Why not just send a note?" Samuels asked.

"Anyone can send a note," I replied.

"Chevron six encoded!" Walter called out.

"Well, time to send our message off," I said as I left the control room. I entered the gate room just in time for the activation vortex. More than twenty heavily armed men stood guard in front of the gate, including the two .50 caliber machine guns on either side of the ramp. Hopefully, we could quickly clear up the notion that anything could come through an outgoing wormhole soon or these guys were going to burn out quick from scrambling every time we dialed the gate.

I noted that this activation was a lot more stable than the last time we were off to Abydos. No reverse whirlpool for instance and the splash effect created by the wormhole disappeared a lot more quickly. Maybe the gate was still recalibrating after being inactive for so long? It had only been activated a handful of times in the last year but had been inactive for ten thousand years before that.

I casually walked up to the gate and paused as I soaked up the feeling of being close to the stargate again. But it was only for a moment until I snapped out of it and tossed the box through with little ceremony. I turned around and walked back down the ramp, past the security guys who all were standing by in case something happened.

I headed back up to the control room.

"Now what?" the General asked.

"Now we wait," I replied. "If Daniel's still around, he'll get the message and send back a reply."

"What if the aliens got it?" Samuels asked.

"It's a box of tissues Samuels, not the keys to the Pentagon," I responded, trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of my response. "Either they'll blow it up or blow their noses, but it's no skin off our back either way."

"They could be planning an attack!" he replied hotly.

"Yes, and we've now handed them the secrets of quilted bath products!" I replied, forgoing even the attempt of hiding my sarcasm this time.

"General, this could take some time. Probably best just to settle in and wait."

**~SG-WOLF~**

An hour later, I was seated in the briefing room located outside General Hammond's office. Samuels was speaking with some of his other officers that he had brought with him and all of them occasionally sent me looks while we waited. I didn't care much what they had to say, so I didn't even bother turning my head unless one of them asked me a direct question. They held all the smugness and self assurance of politicians rather than soldiers and I could hear the snide undertones whenever one came to ask me some inane question. Whatever. They weren't likely to be here for long, so I didn't really care.

The sound of the gate activating, indicating an incoming wormhole, reached us along with intense vibrations. I quickly got out of my chair and made my way down to the gate room. As Hammond, Samuels and I arrived in front of the gate, a small object was spat out of the wormhole and the gate deactivated.

I walked up to the object and picked it up. All of the tissues were gone and the box was covered in a fine layer of frost. I wiped some of it away and grinned as I saw the message scrawled on the side:

'THANKS SEND MORE'

"That's just the response we've been waiting for," I grinned as I tossed the box to Samuels, who caught it and showed the message to the General.

"Permission to take a team through the stargate to Abydos, sir," I asked.

"Assuming I get the President's authorization, the mission briefing will be at 0800 hours tomorrow," Hammond replied. "Consider yourself reinstated, colonel."

**AN: Actually, I have been to Langkawi in the past and it's at the top of my list for dream vacation spots in the future. Beautiful beaches, nice people and so damn relaxing, I couldn't believe it. Not to mention a lot cheaper than Hawaii or Guam. Watching the sunset on the beach with a beer in hand will always be one of my fondest memories.**

**Like I said last time, I plan to have ****Children of the Gods**** be a multi-chapter story since it's such a big story arc. We'll be digging into the series itself now and over time, you'll start to notice the changes start to build up into what I hope will be a unique and interesting universe.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 8: Welcome Back to Abydos! Here's a Punch to the Gut!

The next morning, I was ready to go and was seated at the debriefing table, serving myself a mug of coffee. I was dressed in my blues, which thankfully still fit me just fine. I had to return to my house last night to dig them and a few other uniforms and items to keep here on base.

The General entered and ordered us all to take a seat, which I already had. Kawalsky, Brown, Ferretti and a few others sat down around the table and made themselves comfortable. There was still an open seat beside me, however.

"Where's Captain Carter?" Hammond asked.

"Just arriving, sir," one of the other airmen reported.

"Carter?" I asked, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"I'm assigning Sam Carter to this mission," the General stated.

"Very well, sir," I nodded. "So what's Carter do for a living?"

"Carter's our expert on the stargate," he replied.

"Understood, sir. Where's he transferring in from?" I asked.

"_She_ is transferring from the Pentagon," a feminine and familiar voice sounded pointedly from the door. I looked up to see a short haired blonde woman walk out of the shadow of the entrance and into the briefing room to stand beside the empty chair. She wore the regular dress uniform with captain's bars on her shoulders and a respectable ribbon rack on her chest. I took note of the expert marksmanship and Operation Desert Storm ribbons she had as well as the aviator badge above those.

'_You don't get all that for being a waste of space,_' I noted

"I take it you're Colonel MacDuff." She then straightened into a crisp salute. "Captain Samantha Carter reporting, sir."

Outwardly, I kept a bland expression, but on the inside, I felt my inner fanboy give a cheer at her introduction. Behold Sam Carter; Destroyer of Suns, Fleets, Bad Guys and Go-To Genius Gal. I returned the salute a little more casually and welcomed her.

"Glad you could join us," I told her.

"But of course, you go by Sam," Kawalsky noted, clearly expecting a guy and not an attractive blonde to show up. I looked over to see Sam clearly resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him. Granted, I always thought it was a little cheesy how she just happened to be introduced with a gender neutral name the first time around, but she was an awesome addition to the team, so I was willing to overlook it. Even if it seemed that the universe was happy to let this all play out as is, cheese and all.

"Not to worry Major," Carter said. "I played with dolls when I was a kid."

"GI Joe?" Kawalsky asked.

"Major Matt Mason, actually," Sam supplied, not missing a beat.

"Oh," Kawalsky nodded before turning to Ferretti next to him and asking, "Major who?"

"Major Matt Mason, the astronaut doll," Ferretti supplied, smiling and nodding. "Did you also have the cool little backpack that could make him fly?"

"Let's get started," the General interrupted before Sam could answer him. "Colonel?"

"Yes sir," I sighed before standing up as Sam sat down. "For the new guys taking your first trip through the gate, there's a couple of things you should expect," I said to her and the other two guys who I'd be saddled with on this mission.

"Respectfully sir, I've practically memorized your report from the first mission," she replied, clearly excited to be here. "I'd like to think I've been preparing for this all my life."

"Memorized it, huh?" I asked. "Really wish I had done a spellcheck before submitting it then. Still, it's important that we go over the details."

"I think what the colonel is saying is, there's no real preparing for this kind of thing," Kawalsky said. "For example, have you ever pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at eight-plus Gs?"

"Yes," she replied instantly. I could tell Brown was impressed and Ferretti was turning his head so Kawalsky wouldn't see his smirk. I looked at Kawalsky and just raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to see if he had some kind of comeback.

"Well…it's way worse than that," Kawalsky added, clearly trying to save face.

"By the time you get to the other side, you're frozen stiff, like you've just been through a blizzard," Ferretti added. "Naked."

"That's the result of the re-compression your molecules undergo during the millisecond required for reconstruction," she replied coolly.

Kawalsky sighed, now seemingly determined to get one up over her. I guess O'Neill had just beat him to the punch the first time around.

"I'm not too thrilled to be bringing a scientist with us on this mission if we're thinking there'll be combat," he remarked.

"Theoretical Astrophysicist," she corrected.

"Which means?" he asked.

"It means that she's not just smarter than us, but probably gets paid a lot more than the rest of us too," I stepped in, smirking at Sam, which she caught.

"Hey, it's not about being a woman," Kawalsky said, holding his hands up defensively. "It's just that the last scientist we sortied with hit the wall seven times out of ten. So, I just have a little problem with a scientist on the team."

Mild sexism aside, I kind of got where he was coming from here. Women were still prohibited from serving with front line units and the arguments had good points on both sides. Plenty of women had served with distinction by this point in the timeline, but none of them with special operations units. My own foreknowledge showed her as a certified badass, but even without it, I was of the opinion that so long as she did her job, I had no problem with a woman on the team.

I was also confident that the others felt the same way. Their primary concern here was that they'd be saddled with deadweight they couldn't count on. I wanted to think that wasn't a possibility, but two lifetimes of memories didn't add up to naiveté. Once she had a shot to prove herself, I fully believed she'd be one of the team. For now however, she was giving as good as she got and that was earning her a good deal of credibility with everyone else here.

"Well Major, I logged over a hundred hours in enemy airspace during the Gulf War. That tough enough for ya? Or are we gonna have to arm wrestle?" she challenged.

"What, are you kidding?" I asked. She turned to look at me. "He's my second in command on this mission. I can't have you breaking his arm a few hours before we go through. I'd have to pick someone new to do all the boring stuff for me if you did that."

Sam smiled at my remark while Kawalsky looked comically offended and the others tried and failed to hide their own laughter.

"I don't mean to throw a damper on your enthusiasm, but I still say the safest and most logical course of action is to bury the stargate, just like the Egyptians did. Thereby making it impossible for the aliens to return," Samuels said. "It's the fastest and most efficient way to eliminate the threat posed to us."

"That won't be enough," I spoke up.

"It worked before," the General noted.

"Ra had a massive spaceship, big enough to use the Giza Pyramid as a landing pad," I pointed out. "They don't _need_ the stargate to get here. They can just do it the old-fashioned way and establish orbital supremacy, bombarding us from orbit and keeping beyond our ability to even touch them. Using the stargate is just quicker and more convenient, but you can't fit much more than infantry and some light vehicles through the stargate," I turned to General Hammond. "No offence to Major Negative, sir, but maybe we should use the stargate to do a little info gathering before they decide to show up on our front door and ruin our day? Maybe pick up some more souvenirs in the process like last time?"

There was silence in the briefing room as the General clearly thought about my words. More than once he looked to me, but I just kept a confident expression on my face each time.

"I'll give you exactly twenty-four hours to either return or send a message though. No Kleenex boxes this time," Hammond ordered.

"A radio transmission should be able to get through, sir," I offered, smirking a bit at his remark.

"That will do just fine. Otherwise, I will assume the worst, and have no choice but to send the bomb through," he finished.

"Understood," I replied, not bothering to keep the smile off my face as I prepared to continue the briefing for the new guys.

**~SG-WOLF~**

The stargate was active and we were ready to go. My team and I walked into the gate room with the General out in front. I was armed with an M9 pistol and an MP5 submachine gun like last time, much to my personal dismay. I had requested higher caliber sidearms, but none were available on base at this time, so we'd had to accept the Berettas again. But this time, I had gotten approval for us to bring armor piercing ammunition in addition to our normal loadouts, so we'd fare a bit better this time around if it came to a firefight with guys in plate armor.

Most of our normal ammunition just bounced off of that steel plating the jaffa used before it could penetrate and it took way too much time to take down a fully armored one. I had only been slightly disappointed that there wasn't anything special available yet due to those staff weapons we'd brought back, but to my understanding, they were still laying disassembled in a lab somewhere while our scientists squeezed out whatever new information they could.

Everyone was making their last second equipment checks, but mostly out of habit rather than necessity. Everything had been checked at least twice already and everything else now was probably just nerves, especially for Carter and the two other additions to our team, Curro and Swope.

Hammond entered the gate room and walked over to where I was fiddling with my own equipment. "Try to follow orders this time, colonel," Hammond said.

"Sir?" I asked, fastening my helmet.

"This time you bring Daniel Jackson back for debriefing. Is that clear?" he ordered.

"His wife might have words with me over that, but yes sir," I replied. I then turned to my team. "Alright, let's move!" I ordered.

Kawalsky, Brown, and Ferretti walked up the ramp and through the stargate with minimal hesitation, Curro and Swope following a bit more hesitantly behind them with Carter and I bringing up the rear. I motioned for her to go first and she hesitated before doing so, me following close behind as we approached the event horizon.

We stopped at the front of the event horizon. "My God! Look at this!" Sam said in awe. She touched the watery surface and watched as a few ripples emerged from where her hand made contact with it. "You can actually see the fluctuations in the event horizon," she said in an almost breathless tone.

I sighed. "Okay, moment's over, captain," I said before shoving her through. Maybe that was a bit of a dick move, but I wasn't willing to waste time while she studied the active stargate and the rest of our team was waiting on the other side.

And besides that, it was a little funny. I shook my head ruefully before following after her.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Once I'd exited on the other side, I took a proper survey of the area, seeing the familiar room I had stood in a year ago as I'd said farewell to Daniel. The place was certainly better lit than last time as the gate shut off behind me and I took a few steps forward down the platform in front of the gate to join the rest of the team.

"Like riding a bike," I remarked aloud before giving myself a small shake as the chill of the transition was still kind of harsh. At least there was no frost this time and it was still pretty warm here.

After stepping down with the rest of the team, I shrugged off my pack filled with extra supplies and propped it up against the first few steps at the bottom. I walked down a few steps and looked at Sam, who looked to be in slight shock from the travel and was breathing deeply.

"Reading the report doesn't quite do it justice, does it?" I asked her. She just looked up at me, breathing deeply and rubbing her sides to warm herself up. "Best way to shake it off is to stand up and move around," I added, patting her on the back before taking a scan of my own of the room.

There was a campfire still going in the middle of the room with an odd assortment of pots, pans and food scattered around. The place looked like it had only been abandoned a few minutes ago as all of the torches on the wall were lit and there definitely wasn't this much stuff laying around the last time we were here.

"Heads up," I remarked to the team, who had recovered from the trip and were scanning around already. "We're definitely not alone here."

Everyone began to fan out, keeping their weapons up as they stepped around the assortment of items and blankets on the ground. I kept my own weapon up and moved up with them, sensing Sam about a step behind me and to my right. We didn't get very far before we found ourselves suddenly surrounded by kids carrying guns who all popped out from behind columns and other cover scattered around the room. Everyone froze and snapped their weapons up as a tense standoff ensued.

"Sorry, did we come at a bad time?" I asked before a familiar voice spoke up in Abydonian from the back. "Chea mat'e!" the voice said. "Lower your guns," he said in English.

I looked to the back of the room and saw Daniel walking forward with his hands held out and the kids all began lowering their weapons. I signaled for the rest of the team to do the same. "Put 'em down guys, these are friendlies," I added.

I walked forward with a big smile on my face, holding out my hand in greeting "Hey, Daniel!" I said.

"Hello Lennex. Welcome back," he replied, looking confused as he shook my hand.

"You obviously got my package. Thanks for the quick response," I said.

"Yeah, thanks for that by the way," he replied as he let go of my hand. I then looked past him and saw another familiar face. "Skaara!" I called as I walked forward, my smile widening as I saw yet another familiar face.

Skaara saluted me, grinning at seeing me again and I returned the gesture. I then laughed and pulled the kid into a hug. "Good to see ya, Skaara!"

"Len'nex!" he replied, not quite getting my last name right with his thick accent, but I didn't really care. We parted, both grinning. "I did not think to be seeing you again," he replied in fragmented and heavily accented English. Considering Daniel had probably taught him only every now and then over the last year, it was a pretty impressive effort.

"Where else can I find such fine company?" I asked rhetorically. I then turned to Daniel. "How've you guys been holding up?" I asked.

"Good. You?" he asked.

"I've been okay. It's good to see you guys again," I replied.

"Greetings from Earth, Dr. Jackson," Ferretti said.

"Hey Ferretti," Daniel replied with a smile.

"Brought you a little something, Daniel," Kawalsky said as he handed the archaeologist a travel pack of tissues.

"Kawalsky," Daniel replied ruefully as he took the packet.

"You're looking pretty good. They feeding you alright here?" Brown asked as he shook his hand.

"Better than you might think, actually," he replied. He then looked to the side and smiled. "Sha're, don't be shy," he beckoned with his hand. I turned to see the woman Daniel had fallen for peep out from behind a curtain that belonged to a small tent that was set up in the corner. She looked much the same as she did from before, but I could tell married life was suiting her well. Hell, it seemed everyone was looking healthier and happier than when I'd last seen them. It must've been the benefits of living free of the goa'uld and not having to break their backs mining every day.

Sha're walked over and stood by Daniel's side. "Sha're, a pleasure as always," I greeted with a gentle smile and put my hand forward, who took it and I shook her hand softly. She smiled at me. "Hello again, Len'nex," she replied, her accent not quite as thick as Skaara's. Then again, she had better access to the teacher.

"Well, I figured it was only a matter of time before you had to tell the truth about us still being here," Daniel said.

"Well it was either us or another nuke with 'Greetings From Earth' scratched into it," I replied. "So why the militia? Expecting trouble?"

"No, we're just taking precautions. Why?" he asked. I was just about to explain when we were both distracted by an exclamation just behind me.

"Amazing!" Sam said and our attention turned to her. "_This_ is what was missing from the dig at Giza. This is how they controlled it! It took us fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a control system for the gate on Earth!"

"Carter?"

"Look how small it is!"

"Carter! Get on over here and say hello!" I called, much louder this time.

"Oh! Sorry, sir!" she walked over to us quickly. "Dr. Jackson, I presume." She stuck out her hand and Daniel shook it. "I'm Dr. Samantha Carter." I caught the look Sha're made just before Sam turned to shake hands with her. Seems she wasn't quite as glad to make Sam's acquaintance.

'_That was odd,'_ I thought. Didn't like other women hanging around Daniel, maybe? Also; Carter introducing herself as a doctor? Was she trying to appeal to him as a fellow intellectual or something? I discarded the thought and decided to move forward with the explanation to why we were here.

Daniel then looked to me. "Lennex, what's going on here?"

"Almost two days ago, a bunch of guys came through the stargate on Earth. There was a squad taking their break in the abandoned gate room at the time. Four of them are dead and one was taken," I replied, seriously.

"According to witnesses, one of them looked like Ra, Daniel," Kawalsky added.

"I'm still not convinced about that," I replied. "We all saw Ra's ship blow up, right? Besides, this guy had a snake helmet on and so did the guards that came through with him."

"Well, whoever they are, they didn't come from here," Daniel reported, surprised and confused at our story. "I mean, the boys take shifts guarding it, thirty hours a day, every day. We'd know if they came through here."

"Well, they had to have come from somewhere, Daniel. We're gonna need to look around," I replied.

Daniel paused. "I think I can help you find out who it was, but it's going to have to wait until the sandstorm is over. We were about to have our midday meal. Why don't you join us?" he invited.

"Sounds great," I smiled.

**~SG-WOLF~**

As we sat round the campfire, I noticed the shiny pan that was being used to cook food over the fire. It had the words 'PROPERTY OF U.S.A.F' stamped on the edge.

"I'm sure the eggheads at MIT would be happy to learn that their million dollar probe is now a million dollar piece of kitchenware," Ferretti laughed along with the rest of us.

"Well, it got pretty smashed up when it came through the gate. Smashed right into the stones we were moving into place. So, we decided to make use, and…" he paused as Sha're handed him some of the food she had made herself. "Well it is non-stick titanium, so…" he then dug into the food. "Mmm! Very good. Perfect," he praised. "Beenaa wa! Everybody, try this!" he offered and began passing it around.

"This too," Skaara said as he passed one of those seed bowls to me like the ones I had seen on our last visit.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Drink," he replied, looking mischievous.

I took the beaker and sniffed it. The smell of strong alcohol hit me. I already knew what it was, but I curious as to what it tasted like, even though I wasn't much of a liquor drinker.

"Is this moonshine?" I asked.

"Moonshine?" Skaara repeated back to me, never having heard the term before.

"Alcohol," I said, turning to Daniel. "What sort of horrible influence have you been to these kids?" Daniel smiled and held up his hands in a sort of 'what can you do' gesture.

"Skaara's moonshine, huh?" I muttered as I looked at it, honestly curious how it tasted, even though I knew it was probably a bad idea to try it. I braced myself and took a small sip from the bowl.

I immediately regretted my decision as I was reminded why I didn't like most strong liquors. This was strong as hell! Everyone then laughed at my reaction as I managed to get the strong drink down, but immediately started coughing hard.

"Oh, knock it off!" I replied; my throat still burning at the sensation. "Here," I mouthed as I passed the beaker to Sam, who looked like I had just handed her a grenade as she quickly passed it onto Kawalsky.

"Len'nex," Skaara then said solemnly and he held out the shiny lighter I had given him the last time I was here, now a bit scratched from clear use, but obviously still cared for based on the shine it still had. "Your lighter."

I shook my head. "Nah, that's yours now. I gave that to you to keep, remember?"

He hesitated before smiling. "Thank you," he replied.

"It still work alright?" I asked.

Skaara hesitated a bit before answering. "Not as good as before."

"Thought so," I said, motioning him to hand it over as I took a small capsule of lighter fluid out of my vest pocket. Skaara handed it over and watched intently as I carefully poured the fluid into the nearly dry lighter. I finished and closed the lighter and the fluid capsule back up before flicking my thumb and lighting it easily.

"Good as new!" I commented and handed it back to Skaara along with the capsule filled with lighter fluid, who took both with a big smile. He then stood up and stepped back into the crowd, likely to put them both somewhere safe or just with his own belongings.

"You know, he's never had that lighter out of his sight the whole time you were gone," Daniel said. I hummed in response, not really having any words to say to that.

"So this man who looked like Ra, he must've come through another gate," Daniel said.

"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. He definitely wasn't from here, so it must've been from another stargate," I agreed.

"But the stargate only goes here," Sam said, confused.

"It's not too hard to imagine though," I responded. "All those symbols and the requirement for a correct sequence to form a connection? For that matter, why have the extra symbols on there at all if it's just a one-way trip each time? Why not just a big button?" I asked, trying to lead her to the correct answer.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought too," Daniel confirmed.

"I know all that, but we ran hundreds of permutations and never got a hit," Sam replied, still firm in her theory but seemingly coming around to our logic.

"But you didn't have what you need," Daniel said.

"Dan'yel, the storm has passed," Skaara reported, walking back to us from the temple entrance.

"Perfect! Now, I can just show you," Daniel said as he stood up. "Sha're, yen rohdeh Lennex una volana, vili tao an," he said to his wife. She then stood up, looking slightly concerned but Daniel assured her that we wouldn't be long. He went to kiss her forehead but she must have decided to make it a little more memorable, because she leaned into it and suddenly turned it from a goodbye kiss to a small make out session.

I laughed a bit as Daniel seemed shocked by this sudden display of affection. The Abydonians began catcalling as they saw what was going on and started laughing as well. I was happy and a tiny bit jealous that Daniel had found a woman to love him like Sha're clearly did. That woman wasn't just a bombshell, but brave according to what I remembered from our last mission. He really was a lucky man.

She then pulled back from him, slowly. "Goodbye, my Dan'yel," she said softly. Poor Daniel was too dazed to do anything for a few moments before he snapped himself out of it and said his own goodbye, still looking just a bit dazed.

I then stood up with Sam and Kawalsky doing the same. Several of the kids also joined us but I told Brown and Ferretti stayed behind as well as the two new guys to 'hold the fort' with the kids. We headed towards the exit of the temple together and I decided it was time to have a certain conversation with Daniel. I had to broach this delicately though.

"So," I started. "Marriage seems to be working out well for you."

Daniel smiled sheepishly and turned his head to hide his expression. "We're very happy together, yes. Apart from that, she's also been a tremendous help getting me settled in and helping me with translations."

I smirked as I slung an arm around Daniel's shoulder. "Glad to hear married life's been treating you well, Daniel. Seriously, I'm happy for you. But there's something else we need to chat about on the way to wherever we're going."

Daniel nodded and reached into his robes to remove and clip tinted lenses onto his glasses as we exited the temple. The others and I also pulled out some eyewear to protect our eyes from the suddenly harsh glare of the sunny desert. We kept walking forward and were faced with the endless Abydonian desert stretching far into the horizon.

"I can't say I missed this place," Kawalsky muttered.

"This way," Daniel said and pressed forward with the rest of us following.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" Daniel asked a moment later.

"Well," I started. "The secret's pretty much out now that you're alive back here. I was ordered to bring you back with us this time."

Daniel shot me a look after I said that. "I've got a life here now, Lennex. I can't just give that up."

I held up my hands at his tone. "Hey, it's me you're talking to here. I wouldn't be asking if I thought anything bad was going to happen or you were going to get locked up or something. They'll just want to debrief you and ask you about anything you learned on Abydos while you've been here."

"He's being straight with you, Daniel," Kawalsky said, backing me up. "They're a little mad but mostly, they just want your expertise."

"Like I said, I have a life here now," Daniel persisted. "There's nothing for me back on Earth. You guys recruited me when I was essentially laughed out of the archaeological community, remember?"

"I do and frankly, I can't wait for the day when you get the last laugh over those pricks who mocked you," I told him sincerely. Seriously, those guys had run quite a smear job on Daniel for his attempted lecture in New York over a year ago. I had checked up on it myself after we'd gotten back and been pretty pissed on his behalf. It wasn't anything overt, but there were a number of disparaging remarks that made Daniel look like a UFO nut job when he wasn't there to defend himself anymore.

"But just because they want you back doesn't mean you can't dangle some leverage over them if they try to play hardball," I told him.

Daniel looked at me confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

"Whatever happened to those two glider ships after we left?" I asked.

"Well, uh," Daniel said, still confused. "We couldn't figure out how to do anything with them since there wasn't much written language to translate. They just sat there and hovered for a while. We used a few of the pack beasts to pull them to one of the sides of the temple so they'd be out of sight and out of the way. Eventually, they seemed to lose power and fell to the ground. We just left them there after that since we had no real use for them. Why?"

"Just thinking how excited and grateful the science guys would be if you mentioned you had two small alien spaceships you were willing to donate as a gesture of goodwill from the people of Abydos," I remarked offhandedly.

Everyone's eyes widened at that, but I suspected for slightly different reasons.

"You still have working spacecraft?" Sam asked excitedly.

Daniel turned his head around to answer her. "Well, they should be out of power, but otherwise they should work. They're just covered in a bit of sand, but they're still accessible."

Daniel then turned back to me. "You want me to give you spaceships?"

"Only two little ones," I remarked, smirking a bit at his surprised tone. "You said it yourself; it's not like you're using them for anything. Plus, whoever this new guy is, we don't know what exactly he's capable of or if he has a dozen of those pyramid ships he could show up in some day. We could really use the help if that happens."

"I-I'm not sure about that," Daniel said, looking a bit conflicted. "I mean, technically none of the Abydonians care about them or claim them or anything, but last time, I agreed that you should return with those staff weapons since the tech meant more than just laser weapons and they couldn't have made too much of a difference anyway, even if they were misused. This just seems like kind of a big step from that. I don't want to seem like a jerk here or anything, but is it really a good idea to bring those back to Earth? I'm just worried about them being more trouble than they're worth."

"I understand that," I said placatingly. "But the reasoning here is pretty much the same except with the added problem of this new guy who attacked us. We might really need a better understanding of spacecraft tech if we ever run into him again and this is a shortcut for us to do that. This could really give Earth's own space programs a jumpstart in the meantime."

Not to mention getting an example of goa'uld computers earlier than in the show. Plus antigrav tech, inertial dampeners and a new engine capable of reaching orbit without a huge rocket strapped to it. I had thought about it ever since the Abydos mission, but now was the time I wanted to get those things back to Earth. I could arrange a head start over a year in advance when compared to the original timeline and dammit if I wasn't going to reach out and take it. Earth would be invaded by Apophis in about a year's time according to the original timeline and this was one way to ensure we weren't totally defenseless when that time came or the half dozen times after that.

I could see the calculating look on Daniel's face as he thought about my words. I felt like a bit of a dick for manipulating him like this, but I really did want those fighters brought back to Earth. For the early advantage that could get us, I'd definitely manipulate my friend a bit. Besides, in this case, I could make sure he was winning in this deal too.

"Look, it's not like it's a deal breaker or anything," I added in a placating manner. "But it would go a long way to helping us all out. The guys back home want to hear about how Abydos is and that it isn't a threat to them? Well, here's two slightly used fightercraft for them! Generously provided by the people of Abydos since they can't use them and are grateful to both you and the rest of us for helping them kill off Ra. You could probably swing some stuff for the Abydonians as well in exchange. Remember how you wanted to get some teachers here to teach them reading and writing again? At least we could ask for some more books and things for the people here at the same time."

"How would we get them through the gate?" Kawalsky asked. "Last I remembered, those wings were way too wide to get them through."

"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem," I waved off. "Since we'd be dragging them through, we can turn them sideways. Or worst-case scenario, we have some guys come through with blowtorches and saws and trim the extra sections off. Should still be useful for study with the wingtips or nose cut off and we can just lift them out of the gate room via the opening at the top of the shaft. It's the same way we got the stargate in there in the first place."

"That's…certainly an interesting idea," Daniel said thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure I want to risk coming back to Earth if there's a risk I can't return."

"Like I said; I don't believe that'd happen either way," I said. "But this way, we can all end up winners here." I shrugged. "But like I said, we can talk work it out later. So, what else has been going on while we've been gone?"

Daniel gratefully accepted the conversation shift and started telling Kawalsky and I what the Abydonians had been up to since last year. Carter thankfully picked up that I was trying to convince Daniel to come back with us by choice rather than trying to force him and decided not to intervene. Although, I could tell she really wanted to ask more questions about those two gliders, she kept her silence when I signaled for her to just let it drop for now.

We all chatted lightly with one another as we walked under Abydos' sun to our destination.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"This is incredible!" Sam said in awe.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Daniel replied.

After an hour of walking through the desert, we had come across another temple, similar to the one we had just left, but there was no pyramid on this one. Just an elaborate block and pillar design that had a grand opening in front of it. Once inside, Daniel led the way and began his explanation.

"So, I figured that there had to be more to this place, so I started exploring. Just the area around the pyramid and the town at first. Then, after about a month after you guys left, I found this place. I had to use that alien gauntlet Lennex left behind to open the place," Daniel elaborated. "Doctor Carter, you're gonna love this." He then began lighting torches along the wall to bring some light to the dark room.

We had entered a large hall-like room with Horus statues lining the walls. At one end was a giant Ra symbol in gold. And covering the walls in between the statues were great slabs covered in hieroglyphs. "This is the archaeological find of the century," Sam said as she looked around her. "There must be-"

"Thousands of lines of hieroglyphs," Daniel finished for her.

"Have you translated any of this yet?" I asked.

"I think so," he replied.

"Well, what's it all say?"

"Ah, well, it doesn't say anything. Actually, it's sort of a chart, more of a map," he explained excitedly.

"A map," I repeated, pretending to think it over. "You're saying that all of this," I gestured around us, "is a directory of different gate addresses?"

"That's what I think. I mean, I haven't been able to study it all, but just look at it! It would take my whole life," he replied as he looked around.

"We don't have that kind of time today," I said. "Is there some kind of a reference of what we're looking at on any one point on the wall? Some kind of description?"

If there was some listing of gate addresses that were strongholds or mining worlds, we might just save ourselves a lot of time in the future, even if this map was horribly out of date by human standards.

"No, there isn't. It's just a list of gate addresses and that's it," he replied. "But this proves that there are many more stargates out there! A whole network of them! Stargates that are all over the galaxy!"

"I don't think that can be, Doctor," Sam said, shaking her head.

"Well, why not?" Daniel asked.

"Well, because after the colonel and his team came back, my team ran hundreds of symbol permutations, using Earth as the point of origin, and it never worked," she explained.

"Then where did your Ra lookalike come from?" he asked.

"I've got a theory about that," I mused aloud. "Care to listen?" I asked Sam and Daniel. They looked at each other and shrugged, indicating for me to go ahead.

"Now, I'm no expert on the universe," I began. "But I do know that our universe is constantly moving and expanding. Without a computer to calculate and compensate for stellar drift, our stargate is probably trying to access a point in space that is just empty space. Our stargate has been offline and disconnected for thousands of years and we didn't have the dialing device like the one we saw with the gate here. Going back to the phone analogy, we had a handset, but not the dock that came with it. Instead, we built one and it's kind of like an overseas knockoff version. Therefore, it doesn't mesh as well with the other alien tech beyond the obvious ways.

"Now, while a few millennia may not be very long on a galactic timescale, the shift in space is still happening. Enough that we're calling a disconnected line or something. That's probably why you've never gotten another hit," I proposed.

"But what about Abydos?" Sam asked. "How were we able to connect here?"

"It's probably so close to us in the network that the shift is within a certain buffer zone the gate has for making a connection. That dialing pedestal is big enough that it wouldn't surprise me if it was more than just a button pad. What if the gate itself is disconnected from the network when it's offline or hasn't been dialed in a long enough time? But when someone dials it up, it connects to the network and is updated with new information on the other gate's positions. In another thousand years, maybe Abydos would have been out of range too," I finished up, feeling a bit proud of myself that I had remembered all of that since I hadn't heard the explanation in so long myself.

I then looked around to see Daniel, Sam and Kawalsky looking back at me in total surprise.

"I think…you might be right, sir," Sam said, and I could detect more than a little wonder and respect for what I had just proposed. She would have come to the conclusion on her own soon enough, but this seemed like something I could throw out there without raising too much suspicion.

"So, all we have to do is program the computers back home with the new coordinates, calculate the stellar drift and then we can go to other places," I said. She nodded, already looking excited at the incredible opportunities this could open up for us.

"I've got just the thing to get started with," she said. She took out a digital camera and began recording detailed footage of the walls. Kawalsky stepped over to hold up a torch behind her to offer better lighting as she steadily moved down the walls.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We were talking excitedly about the possibilities of what we'd learned as we got back to the gate room. However, as we entered the temple proper, we immediately noticed something was wrong.

The smell burning cordite greeted us and we heard what I immediately recognized as the cries of wounded.

This place had been hit, hard.

'_No…'_ I thought as my eyes widened. _'This didn't happen before! We were supposed to come back and…and…'_

I felt my recollection of events run into one of those 'blocks' I had in my memory. Except this time, I felt it give way, at least partially. The place had been raided while we were gone by Serpent Guard. They shot the place up, grabbed Sha're and Skaara and took off back through the gate.

Why the hell didn't I remember this?! I could have stopped this! I could have ordered claymores planted in front of the gate to ambush incoming travelers! I could have at least brought Sha're and Skaara with us! I could have-

I then recalled my deathbed conversation. The old, hazy memories of what the Man told me just before I fell asleep.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"_All the memories of your life there will be available to you as well as most of the ones from here. You will keep everything personal to you, but certain information will be blocked as it pertains to events that must occur as they are fixed points. Otherwise, you'll have the freedom to make changes as you see fit."_

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daniel reacted more quickly than the rest of us. "Sha're!" he cried out as he ran forward to search for her. The rest of us stepped forward behind them, looking around for threats and combing our way through the casualties. Inside, I was still furious.

This was his and Oma's doing. They put those blocks in my mind and kept me from remembering this. Why? Was this somehow necessary? They knew I would change this if I recalled it. Was this too important to be stopped? Was the suffering of two people I cared about so important that I wasn't even given the option of trying to save them?

For the first time since I had woken up in that hotel room in Colorado Springs, I had never felt so unsure of myself. I was confident I had all the answers going into this, but now I was staring at solid proof that I clearly didn't as I stepped over one of the Abydonians who was clearly dead as he stared up at me with wide, glassy eyes.

I then turned and saw Ferretti propped up against a pillar by the dialing pedestal. I moved to his side and noticed he was still breathing but had taken a bad hit. Sam moved to the other side of him and began performing first aid as I looked him over for other injuries.

"Think he saw the address the attackers used to dial out?" Sam asked as she got his flak jacket open. There was a nasty staff wound in his left shoulder, but most of the shot seemed to have gone over his shoulder rather than into it, impacting the pillar behind him. This was both lucky and unlucky since while the shot hadn't fried his heart and other organs when struck at close range, the stone pillar behind him had exploded at the blast's point of impact and sent several stone fragments into Ferretti's back.

If he didn't get back to Earth soon, he would bleed out. Kawalsky came over and relieved me. "Brown's still alive, but down," he told me. He was taking cover behind that cart when it took a hit and exploded, covering him in wood shrapnel. We need to be careful when moving him." I nodded and got up to look at the rest of the room. I found out quickly that the two new guys, Curro and Swope were dead. I grit my teeth and moved on, duty and training pushing me on past my anger at this situation and myself.

"Ra is dead!" I heard Daniel say strongly.

"No…is Ra. I saw…he took Sha're," one of the boys who was wounded said. "He took Skaara…into the chaapa'ai."

I moved over to where Brown was and helped get him on his feet. He was definitely hurt all over from numerous wood fragments that's hit him but looked like he'd be fine once we got him some help.

"What's this mean, Daniel?" I heard Kawalsky ask. "Could there be another Ra?"

"How in the hell should I know?" Daniel laughed, helplessly as he turned and surveyed the destruction around him. "I should've left the gate covered. This is my fault."

"Sir! Ferretti and Brown need medical attention, now!" Sam called out urgently.

"Go! Help them. I can send you all back," Daniel called back.

"You're coming with us this time, Daniel," I said. "I've got orders, remember?"

"I don't care about your orders, colonel. My wife is out there. So is Skaara," he replied.

"I know that. But there's a very good chance that either Ferretti or Brown saw the incoming gate address. If so, then we can go and get them back! Don't you want to be there for that?" I asked. "Don't forget, you've got that bargaining chip we talked about. And we've got the resources and the manpower to get them back. These people need medical attention as well and we have medics and doctors standing by on the other side. We can bring them back through and get the rest of these kids some help. I need you to trust us here, Daniel."

"I've got everything I need," Sam said as she held up the camera. I nodded at her before looking back at Daniel. He slowly looked around before he beckoned everyone over. As soon as the remaining Abydonians had clustered around him, he started speaking to them.

"We're going through the chaapa'ai," he started. "I'm going to come back with help for the wounded. Once we leave again, you have to bury it like we did before, and then leave this place," he said.

"You not coming back?" one of the kids asked.

"No, no, I can't. Nobody can. That's what I'm telling you. Not for a long time. We're going to come back with help for everyone hurt and then I have to go with them when they leave. Now as soon as we're all gone, I want you to close it. Bury it. Put a big heavy cover stone over it. Nothing good can ever come through this gate." I could see that it was hurting him a lot to say these things. "Do you understand me?"

"You came through it, Dan'yel," the same kid replied.

"Do you remember the story I told you? How the ancient Egyptians back on Earth cut themselves off from Ra? Well, that is exactly what you have to do now. Then, in one year, one year from this day, you take the cover stone away." At this point, Daniel couldn't hold back his tears anymore as the emotion of what had happened caught up to him. "I will try to bring Sha're and Skaara home with me on that day. But if I don't make it back, it I don't…if I don't return, then you must bury the gate again forever, jai-o qua?"

There was silence.

"Promise me!"

There was muttered agreement from all of them.

"We promise, Daniel," the kid replied.

"You tell Sha're's father. One year from now…" Daniel finished up. It seemed that here was the kid's breaking point and Daniel wrapped him up in his arms tightly, the other Abydonians all joining in, letting Daniel know that he wasn't the only one grieving.

He then slowly pulled away and stood in front of the DHD. He dialed in the Earth gate address and activated the stargate. In turn I grabbed Brown while Kawalsky grabbed Ferretti. Daniel and Sam grabbed our two dead. We dragged them through the gate and partially down the ramp on the other side. As soon as we were through and down the ramp, I heard Samuel's voice call out;

"Close the iris! Close the iris!"

A metal shielding slid out from inside the stargate and sealed the wormhole off, surprising the hell out of the rest of us. The wormhole then deactivated and the iris opened back up. I watched it folded back into itself along its new housing along the inner ring of the stargate and was fascinated.

I turned around to see Hammond and Samuels walk over to us. "You got that installed pretty quick," I said.

"It's our insurance against any more surprises," the general replied. He then looked at the two wounded soldiers who were being loaded onto stretchers as well as the bodies of our two dead who were being moved into bags and zipped up. "What happened, colonel?"

"The gate room on their side got hit while we were checking the area, sir. Ferretti and Brown are wounded, Curro and Swope are dead. They've got a bunch of casualties on their other side as well," I reported.

"Same hostiles who attacked us?" he asked.

"Looks that way, sir. Same story as when they hit us. This time, it was Daniel's wife and one of the kids who were grabbed in the process," I confirmed. "They have wounded on the other side and no way to move them. Also, some big stuff we're gonna want to bring through. Dr. Jackson can explain more, but we need some medics going through now, sir. Better call some engineers up to go through with them."

Hammond looked like he had bitten into a lemon as he processed what I was saying. He turned and ordered Samuels to go and get it done when Daniel decided to step forward and make himself known.

"General, hi. I'm Daniel Jackson. We've never met. Um, I'd like to be on the team that goes after them," Daniel rattled out quickly.

"You're not in any position to be making demands, Jackson," the general almost growled at him before he moved over to where the wounded were being prepped for transport.

I took a step closer to Daniel, who was still looking distraught over the events of the last few minutes and leaned in. "We'll make it work, Daniel. Just let him cool down first," I whispered to him before walking over to help move the wounded onto the gurneys.

Carter was already explaining the situation on the other side to Hammond. Likely seeming a more trustworthy source of information on what had happened than myself or Kawalsky. I saw more medics and a few SFs rush in while carrying supplies as Samuels called from the control room that they were beginning the dialing sequence. I walked over to brief the medics on the situation they were about to walk into and prepared myself for a long day.

This day had certainly gone to shit in a hurry.

**AN:**

**I know you probably expected me to save Sha're and Skaara. Believe me, I gave it a lot of thought before choosing to go this way with the story. Among other things, if I did that, I couldn't devise a convincing way to either stop the raid (that Teal'c was a part of) or make a convincing story going forward without Daniel's early drive to save his wife and Skaara. **

**Also, the ascended Ancients are known for allowing the rules to be bent on occasion but would never allow my MC to come in with perfect memory of things to come. Like remembering the Ark of Truth exists or that big time travel base we saw in Continuum. **

**Plus, the whole point of Children of the Gods was to establish a lot of staples of dealing with the goa'uld, including how they just show up and wreck your day with their BS and there's little that can be done to stop them at this point. This isn't meant to be one guy's perfect playthrough of the stargate universe, even though my MC will certainly be using his knowledge to push things towards a better outcome as much as he can. **

**On the plus side, we now have those two gliders on their way to the SGC. That's one big plot hole I noticed when I rewatched the Stargate Movie a while back. Those two jaffa just exit their craft and leave them idling there when the locals bum rushed them. As far as I know, they were never mentioned after. That makes them perfect for my story.**

**I haven't decided on any pairings yet for my MC. I've been getting a few anonymous reviews for a Lennex/Sam pairing and I'm not against that, but don't really have any overt romance stories planned right now. If it does happen, it'll be naturally after the first few story arcs.**

**As always, I'm happy to read your reviews! Even the ones from the people who left them just to tell me I suck and disabled PMs!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 9: The Wolves are Coming!

In the end, it took us hours to get this all sorted and we ended up working straight into the evening. Medics came through with us on the next trip and helped treat the wounded kids on the other side, but too many of them were already beyond help. About an hour after they went through, Hammond organized a team of engineers along with Carter to come through and examine the two defunct gliders the Abydonians had 'donated' out of gratitude.

We managed to figure out how to get them both through, but we really weren't sure if we'd manage it at first. Both were too big to fit through the gate normally and Hammond had to call for some heavy equipment from the nearby base to have it standing by for when we did manage to get them through. It all seemed pretty fast to me, but I suppose you can get shit done in a hurry if you have a big red phone on your desk that only dials the White House.

We had a pair of cranes on standby at the top of the shaft with a team of engineers who all had been sworn to the highest level of clearance for this task. Anyway, it was actually simpler than I thought to get them through and didn't require us to cut the wings off. And it was all thanks to Kawalsky.

See, he had mentioned to us and the engineers that the gliders had originally deployed from the pyramid ship, out of an opening that had appeared in the side of the ship. But that he had also seen the wings had to unfold as they came out of the ship. I was totally surprised because I had never seen that particular variation of glider on the show. I only remembered them as either having fixed wings or those versions that dropped down from a mothership and had their wings fold beneath them and these certainly weren't that variant.

Sure enough, with that information to go on, the engineers managed to locate manual latches embedded onto the glider that seemed to lock the wings into place. We didn't have the tools that were normally used to maintain these things, but we had brought along a portable generator and some plasma torches for just that situation. Can't be a problem once it's a liquid!

We certainly wouldn't be flying them without some repairs, but engineering team had been able to physically push the wings back into the crafts' frames and make them small enough to transport. When last I'd left them, they'd been carefully shimmying the gliders into position into the temple and through the gate. It was tight, but they were confident they could manage it without further damaging the gliders.

While all this was going on, Daniel was getting his official debrief of his time on Abydos. I had wanted him to come back through with us to translate for the wounded, but Samuels wasn't having it and Hammond wasn't feeling like sticking his neck out for Daniel given the events he was associated with.

I hadn't been there while it went on, but I assumed it went well enough considering how Daniel was walking around in a spare olive drab uniform when I got back. I'd had barely any time to catch up with him when I was told to report to the briefing room along with Sam. We were all now seated around the table as outside the window, we could see the cranes on the surface lower their cables in preparation for when the first glider came through.

Sam had finished her own report and was now summarizing for the general. "Based on the position he was in when we found him, Ferretti might have seen the gate address they dialed before they left. That should tell us where they went." Sam paused in her debrief. "General, Dr. Jackson's discovery of the cartouche on Abydos had thousands of possible coordinates. That's thousands of new worlds, sir."

"And our stargate can take us to these worlds?" Hammond asked.

"With this new data, and as long as we can make the appropriate allowances for alignment in the targeting computer-"

"Yes or no, captain?" the general asked, not in the mood for the long explanation after our long day.

She paused. "I think so, sir. Requesting permission to upload the symbols into the base supercomputer for analysis?"

"And, with your permission sir, I'd like to lead the rescue mission once we find out where these guys came from," I added. "We now have several people to rescue."

"We'll discuss that request at tomorrow's briefing at 1000 hours.," the General said as he stood up, with the two of us standing as well. "Captain Carter, the base computer is at your disposal for the evening. In the meantime, I've got a long phone call to make to the Joint Chiefs and POTUS. Dismissed."

**~SG-WOLF~**

An hour later, I was changed and ready to go home for the night. I stopped by the Infirmary to see Kawalsky laid back in a chair at Ferretti and Brown's side and almost falling asleep.

"The doc says he's gonna be fine," I said.

Kawalsky straightened up in his seat and turned to face me. "Yes, sir."

"But you're gonna keep vigil all night?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, sir," he nodded, holding up his cup of coffee.

I nodded. "I'm tempted to stay here with ya to be honest," I said. "But we've got one more guy to look after tonight."

Kawalsky nodded, knowing exactly what I was talking about. Honestly, I was tempted to camp out down here with him anyway. But I knew Daniel could really use a friend tonight in the wake of everything that had happened.

I saw Daniel standing in the hallway around the elevators, leaning up against the wall and looking more than a little out of place. I walked over.

"Hey," I said, catching his attention.

He turned to me. "They don't know what to do with me," he said with a sad smile. "And I don't know what to do with myself."

"Well, you can't sleep in the hallway. Come on," I said before walking to the elevators. I stopped and looked behind me to see him tentatively following after me. I put my arm out to hold the elevator door open for him and sighed as he seemed to insist on taking his sweet time.

"And we're walking…walking…walking…" I said aloud.

Daniel seemed to get the message and hurried to step into the elevator with me.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Back at my place, I had decided to order a pizza since it was getting late and I really didn't feel like cooking for two. The food arrived and I went to grab some plates and napkins along with some more beer for Daniel and me.

The guy was a real mess. He hadn't said much on the trip back, but I had managed to get him talking a bit by mentioning some of the stuff he had missed while he was on Abydos and describing my own year since I had come back.

I came back to the living room just in time to see Daniel sneeze into a hanky. Where he had found another one, I had no idea. I know that I didn't give him one.

"Nice catch," I joked.

"Yeah," he replied as I handed him one of the plates and a beer. I then set the second plate down next to me on the couch as Daniel sat down in the armchair across from me.

"So, what happened to you guys after we left?"

Daniel blinked at the new conversation topic and diverted his attention from the decoration I had hanging around my living room. "Uhh…well, as soon as you were gone and they realized they were free, they uh, were pretty excited. I mean, Abydos was their world for the taking," he said. "No more mining for Ra, so uh, everyone was pretty happy about that."

"Had a party?" I asked.

"Yeah. Big party. They treated me like their savior the whole time. It was…embarrassing to say the least," he replied, sheepishly.

"Oh, I bet you just loved it," I grinned. "I mean 'Savior of Abydos' has a good ring to it. Sounds cooler than 'the Chicken Man,' that's for sure."

Daniel made a face as I mentioned that incident from our mission together. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm never letting that memory go, savior," I laughed, taking another swig of beer. "So, is it appropriate to bow to you in certain situations now? Should I make an announcement at the base tomorrow?"

"Please don't even joke about that. I spent most of the past year trying to _stop_ everyone I saw from bowing to me all the time," he said.

"Don't tell me it was all bad," I laughed. "All the ladies must've been lined up for you. I'm imagining Sha're outside your tent with a big stick threatening them all to get lost, or else."

"There was a bit of that, just without the stick," he laughed a bit. "If it wasn't for her, I probably…" he paused.

"It'll help if you talk about her. Trust me," I said quietly.

Daniel nodded and recomposed himself. "She was the complete opposite of everyone else. She practically fell on the floor laughing every time I tried to do some chore that they all took for granted. Like uh… grinding yapetha flour. I mean, have you ever tried to grind your own flower?"

"Believe it or not, no," I said. "Are you recommending it?"

"Oh, God no," he laughed. To start with, it comes from this weed-like plant…"

**~SG-WOLF~**

"…So, Skaara was still adamant that it wouldn't work, but Yuttul had to try it. He got one of the mastadges – the big pack beasts we saw on the mission? – and climbed on top of it with all of us watching from the ramp by the pyramid. He had a dummy target he had fashioned together from rugs and rope and had dragged it into the open.

"Then, had to kick the thing to get it moving, but the thing wasn't having it, it just wouldn't budge. So, the others started laughing and Yuttul was getting frustrated and leaned forward to hit the mastadge on the back of its head. That worked and got it moving, but now Yuttul was leaning out of his saddle."

"Oh no," I was already laughing.

"The darn thing took off in the wrong direction and was dragging Yuttul behind it because he had gotten his foot caught in the saddle," Daniel was laughing himself, now. "We chased him over the next two dunes before it stopped and we could get Yuttul out. Sha're was so mad when we brought him back, covered in sand and still adamant to try it again later. She literally had to put her foot down and threaten to send him back to his parents for good if he tried to create 'Mastadge Cavalry' ever again!"

I was laughing loudly at this point and Daniel was joining me. We were a few more beers into it, but I had decided these were our last ones so we didn't go into work tomorrow smelling like we'd walked out of a bar.

"Why-why would you tell them about cavalry anyway?" I got out between laughs.

"They were curious about Earth!" he defended. "And there's only so many things I can tell them that they'd understand anyway!"

We both laughed a bit more before I yawned and checked the clock. It was getting pretty late and we had that briefing tomorrow morning. I finished my beer and cleared out the bottles before showing Daniel where the guest room was.

"Thanks for this, Lennex," Daniel suddenly said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Letting me stay here," he elaborated. "And…the beer."

"Don't worry about it," I waved it off. "You're my teammate. Of course you're welcome here." I then yawned. "I gotta get some sleep or I'll be dead tomorrow. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"We do?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. We're going to figure out how we're going to go and rescue Sha're and Skaara," I replied.

Daniel was quiet for a long moment as he just looked at me. "You really think we'll pull that off," he said, more like a statement than a question.

"Damn right, I do," I said firmly.

Daniel was quiet again for a few moments as he looked at me. "How can you be certain?" he finally asked.

I gave Daniel a level look before speaking, attempting to convey as much sincerity as I could.

"I don't know how long it'll take or how we're gonna do it, but I know we will. I'm going to set all of this right, Daniel. That's a promise. Now, get some sleep. We have to be up in the morning to get to the mountain." I left Daniel in the guest room and walked back to mine.

I didn't know if we'd be able to make a rescue work given the events that I expected to play out, but I was going to try. And if getting them back tomorrow wasn't an option, then that just meant that I'd have to try harder the next time the opportunity came up. There was no way in hell I was letting Sha're die this time around. Not while I had anything to say about it.

That much, I could do for them.

**~SG-WOLF~**

The next morning, we all seated ourselves around the conference room table for the briefing. "People, what is spoken of in this room is classified as SCI, Top Secret," General Hammond began. "Colonel, what do we know about these hostiles that we didn't yesterday?"

"Not much at all, sir. The Abydonians who survived the attack on the camp thought it was Ra," I began. "But Daniel and I had a chat this morning on our way in and we think that it's more likely that we're dealing with someone new."

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Well, Ra's warriors all had avian or uh, Horus helmets on. They were all the same. The people that attacked the base and then Abydos were wearing serpent helmets. So, it's more likely we're dealing with someone new here," Daniel explained. "Ra played the Sun god of Egypt. He borrowed the religion and culture of the ancient Egyptians and he used it to enslave the Abydonians."

"Which implies that most if not all of our ancient mythology has at least some basis in fact, for whatever that's worth," I added.

"Ra wanted the people of Abydos to believe that he was the only god around," Daniel said. "In my year there, I found no evidence of another pantheon having ever been mentioned, which isn't too hard to believe since the Abydonians have few writings lying around."

"So, you and the colonel are saying that you don't think Ra was the last of his race after all?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he's got a brother, Ray?" Kawalsky joked.

"The legend I read on Abydos goes that Ra's race was dying. He survived by taking over the body of a human as a host, an Egyptian boy. But who's to say more of his kind couldn't do the same thing?" Daniel asked. "I mean, this could have happened at anytime, anywhere that there's a stargate. I mean, this could be happening right now."

"Colonel, you've had the most experience in fighting this enemy. Assuming you have to defend yourself in the field, are you up to it?" the General asked.

"Ready to boldly go and whoop ass like no one has done before, sir!" I grinned, earning a few laughs from most the room. "AP rounds coupled with MP5s seem to do the trick. 9mm are crap at long range but are fine once you get close. I recommend we upgrade to .45 caliber sidearms when possible for the stopping power. I have a few recommended items for the armory as well."

And a lot more than just new weapons. Once we got the ball rolling around here with gate operations, I had a packet I was working on that was full of ideas for how to turn this place into a fortress and a better support platform for what we'll encounter out there.

"Very well, Captain Carter, you're confident that the stargate will take us where we want to go with this new information?" Hammond continued.

"Well, the supercomputer's feeding the revised coordinates into the dialing computer now. It'll take time to calculate, but it should spit out two or three destinations a month," she replied.

"Let's not fool ourselves here, people," Hammond began seriously. "This thing is both vast and dangerous, and we are in so far over our heads we can barely see daylight. These hostiles we are up against possess technology so far superior to our own, we barely understand how it works. We would have likely all been much better off if the stargate had been left in the ground," Hammond said.

"With respect, sir, we can't just bury our heads in the sand on this," Sam spoke up. "I mean, think of how much we could stand to learn. Think of what we've brought back already and what we could still bring back."

"What you could bring back is precisely what I'm afraid of, captain. We've gotten lucky thus far, but how much more luck could we realistically expect to have out there?" Hammond paused. "However, the President of the United States happens to agree with you. In the event your theories pan out, he has ordered the formation of nine teams, whose duties will be to perform reconnaissance, determine threats, and if possible, to make peaceful contact with the peoples of these worlds. Now these teams will operate on a covert, top secret basis. No one outside of this command will know of their existence, except for the President and the joint chiefs. Colonel MacDuff?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Your team will be designated SG-1," he began but stopped there when he saw me raise my hand.

"With your permission, sir," I stated formally. "I would request that these teams be allowed operational names to use attached to their number designation."

He blinked and paused for a moment before nodding. "You are free to do so if you wish, colonel. Might I ask your reason for doing so?"

"If we're going to be making contact with alien civilizations and facing threats like these snake guys," I replied. "We should be introducing ourselves with something that speaks to who we are and where we come from. Not to mention these sorts of things help keep morale up."

"Very well, colonel. However, since you were the one to suggest it, it will be your responsibility to come up with the remaining names for the other teams," he ordered. "Nothing obscene or in bad taste. You'll submit these names to me for final approval."

"Yes, sir!"

"Your team will consist of yourself, Captain Carter-"

"And me?" Daniel asked.

The General paused. "Dr. Jackson, we'll need you to work as a consultant with the other SG teams from here. Your expertise in ancient cultures and languages is far too valuable to risk in field operations."

"I really have to be on their team," he said. "My wife is out there, general. I need to go." Daniel finished with a determined look at the general.

"If I may, general," I offered. "Daniel's expertise is exactly why we'll need him in the field for situations we may encounter. He will still have plenty of time to train and coordinate with the researchers back here at the base."

Hammond seemed to consider my offer briefly before answering. "We can discuss the matter further after the briefing, colonel," he said.

I turned to Daniel and winked at him so he'd know I was confident in making it happen.

"Major Kawalsky, you will head SG-2," the General began but paused and looked at me. "Also known as…?"

"Dragon," I immediately supplied.

"I like that," Kawalsky said, grinning and sounding pleased with the name.

"Very well. You will lead SG-Dragon." At that moment an airman came into the room and handed Samuels a piece of paper. He opened it and his eyes widened. "Lieutenant Ferretti is conscious, sir," he reported to Hammond.

Hammond quickly dismissed us as we all got out of our seats and headed to the Infirmary.

**~SG-WOLF~**

After getting the coordinates from Ferretti, we suited up and made our way to the gate room with Kawalsky leading the newly dubbed SG-Dragon. Like before, I was packing an M9 sidearm and an MP5 submachine gun. The newly named 'SG-Wolf' was packing light for this mission since we were just the scouting element. However, SG-Dragon would be carrying a lot of the heavier ordinance and camping supplies since they would be tasked with hanging back and waiting to either ride to our rescue or possibly retreat if we all got our asses handed to us.

"Colonel, I'd like to remind you, in the event that you fail to notify base camp within twenty-four hours, SG-Dragon will scrub the mission and return without you," Samuels said.

"Understood," I replied.

"Not gonna happen, colonel. Dragon won't leave without you," Kawalsky spoke up.

Samuels shot Kawalsky a look before continuing. "Alright, let's confirm transmitter codes. Remember, only the right code will open the iris. And if you lose the transmitter, you can't get home."

"Understood, sir," Sam confirmed as we entered the gate room.

"Chevron seven, locked," Walter announced over the PA and the stargate activated.

The MALP went through the gate as we stood by and waited for the all clear signal from Hammond in the Control Room. We looked up to get visual conformation that the mission was still on as Sargent Walter Harriman announced that the gate was clear on the other side.

"Let's go people!" I called out but hung back with Kawalsky as our teams moved out ahead of us.

"I kind of wish I was going with you," Major Samuels said, almost wistfully to Kawalsky.

"Yeah? I'm kind of glad you're staying behind," he replied.

I couldn't contain my snort of laughter as Kawalsky and I both walked up the ramp and through the gate.

**AN: Title drop!**

**The idea for the story name came from this moment, which I will admit to having cribbed from Commander Kitsuné's story, SG-FOX. It was such a simple, yet perfect idea and I loved it so much that I had to rewrite my original title for this story to do my own version of it. I'll be keeping SG-2 as Dragon as sort of a homage to the original story that inspired me to write this.**

**This is a fairly light chapter and is mostly just a transition before we wrap up ****Children of the Gods**** and move into the series proper. Bigger changes are coming, I promise! It's still early days for our heroes!**

**Also, I'll be going on vacation next week, but I'm hoping to finish my Children of the Gods arc before starting it. I'll be bringing my computer with me as I travel, but expect a small dry spell as I don't expect I'll be writing as much while I'm relaxing.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 10: The Great Escape!

Kawalsky and I emerged on the other side of the stargate at Chulak. We both ended up stumbling out of the gate as both the chill of the transition and the crisp air of Chulak's climate sent us both shivering upon arrival.

"Whatever the hell is causing this shit to happen needs to get fixed, ASAP!" I grunted as I took a deep breath and adjusted to the chill.

"At least it seems to be improving," Kawalsky replied as he flexed his hands and began rubbing them to get the blood flowing. "It was way worse the last time. Must be wearing off."

"Small mercy," I replied. I examined the surrounding area and saw that we were standing on a low, flat plain at the base of a series of hills. It appeared as if the area had been cleared some time ago as all of the trees were some distance away and we were standing on a dirt covered clearing with many large boulders placed in some sort of organized fashion with the stargate at the center. I noted that this was definitely a poor defensive position for us to stick around in as everyone took cover behind the nearest boulder and scanned our surroundings.

At that point Daniel sneezed.

"Well, some things never change," I muttered. Louder, I called out, "Alright; Daniel, go ahead and check the dialing pedestal to make sure we can dial home. Carter, get ready to send the probe back through. SG-Dragon, you're on overwatch. Keep your eyes on those hills."

About fifteen minutes later, we were almost ready to move out. I walked up next to Daniel, listening to him prattle on about the area.

"It must be some sort of ceremonial place. The gate is, has to be, an integral part of their spiritual culture. This place was built as if it were meant for worshippers," Daniel said.

"So, you figure out how to dial home yet?" I asked.

"Oh… Well, in answer to your question, yeah. The device is the same as on Abydos. This symbol represents-"

"You told this to Dragon, yet?"

"Yes, this symbol represents-"

"Daniel, let's wait until we get back for you to give a class, alright?" I said before walking away. I was about as interested as O'Neill was in the TV series about what that symbol was all about.

I walked over to Kawalsky. "We'll need to find a better spot to lay up at than this," I said. "Way too open for my tastes."

"Yeah, that's just what I was thinking," he replied.

"Sirs, I found what looks like a trail down the mountain. Looks like its seen traffic in the last couple of days," an SG-Dragon member reported.

"Good work. With any luck, it'll lead us to a nice spot out of the way to set up base camp," I nodded. I then turned to Carter, who had approached me while Daniel was busy with the dialing device. "Anything up, captain?"

"Sir, I'd advise setting a line of Claymores along the ridge at ten-meter intervals," she reported. "We packed a number of them and I don't think we'll get a better location to use them than here."

I smiled and nodded, pleased with the idea since I knew our exit was likely going to be pretty intense. "Sounds good," I said. "Grab Warren and have him give you a hand. He's got explosives training. Pass me the remote to the probe and I'll send it back. We should be ready to move out once you two are done."

**~SG-WOLF~**

After half an hour of hiking later, we came across a small clearing that overlooked the path to the stargate. It was hidden enough so that people traveling the path wouldn't be able to see into the clearing so long as we were careful and close enough to ambush any hostiles that came this way. Dragon set up camp and I prepared to take the rest of my team out to scout ahead.

"Alright, we're all set here. If we're not back in twenty hours-" I began.

"We'll come and rescue your sorry asses," Kawalsky grinned.

"I wish, but that's not the mission today. You'll go back through the gate with the address Daniel told you, as you were ordered," I said firmly. "If we make contact with you and need support, you can provide it, but we're not looking to get into a pitched battle of we can help it."

"Yes, sir," he replied, looking unhappy with the order.

"If we don't make it back and you don't hear from us, it's because we got our asses handed to us and you need to run. Then, it'll be your job to make it back and warn everyone that this place is bad news and to keep clear."

Daniel and Carter walked over to me, having unslung most of their own gear here at the camp and ready to head out with me.

"Looks like we're good to go. Stay safe and keep your heads down while we're gone," I said.

"Sure thing. Pick me up a t-shirt," he responded.

"Sure," I laughed. "How about I check the gift shop for refrigerator magnets and shot glasses too? Those always make good gifts. Which do you think General Hammond would prefer?"

"He seems more like a t-shirt guy to me, so try to go for one of those," Kawalsky laughed as he waved farewell to us.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We had only been walking for about ten minutes alongside the dirt path when Sam decided to start up a conversation with Daniel.

"So, Dr. Jackson, tell me more about Sha're," she asked. "How did you two meet?"

"Sha're? Well, she's-" Daniel began.

"She was a gift," I interrupted, smirking.

"She was, actually, from the elders of Abydos the first night we were there," he confirmed.

"And you accepted?!" she asked incredulously.

"Not at first," I grinned. "The language barrier was still pretty big at that point. He just thought his natural charisma and reputation as 'the Chicken Man' was drawing fans in faster than he thought they would."

"Hey!" Daniel squawked indignantly. "That's not true! Don't tell people that!"

"'The Chicken Man?'" Sam asked confusedly. "You mean that part of your report where Dr. Jackson imitated a chicken over dinner to the Abydonians?"

"The Legend of the Chicken Man is a big deal to the people of Abydos," I replied to her matter-of-factly. Daniel just turned red and facepalmed behind me.

"But anyway, by then it was too late. They thought he was either Ra, or a representative of Ra's, which was the reason Sha're was given to Daniel. By the time everyone was on the same level and he realized the situation, the two had already started falling in love, so they stayed together," I finished up.

A moment later, I spotted movement up the path ahead of us. "Hold up for a minute!" I whispered loudly.

"What?" Daniel asked as I crouched behind a fallen log to use as cover. Sam pulled Daniel down with us a moment later.

We spied the group of heavily robed people making their way along the path. They all wore elaborate hide colored robes that covered their bodies completely and their heads were topped with some sort of pointed leather hood that had a snakeskin pattern to it. Each of them carried wooden staves with snake heads atop them and several had gemstones as well that seemed decorative more than any goa'uld technology.

"Spot any weapons?" I asked Sam.

"No, sir," she replied.

"They're worshipers," Daniel said as they came into clearer view. They certainly looked the part with the way they were dressed. I knew these were the Serpent Priests of Apophis. They mostly corralled the human and jaffa populations of the worlds Apophis ruled and had access to slightly more technology than the average jaffa would. They were mostly civilians, but I knew these guys had to be true fanatics if they were trusted by Apophis to act on his behalf. Fanatics were bad news, as a default.

"Ok, here's the plan-" I began, but broke off as I saw that Daniel had already left.

"God dammit," I sighed. Even though I believed that this was still the most likely way to get Teal'c to our side, I was still slightly pissed that he didn't wait for us.

The priests continued to walk on until Daniel said 'hi' to them. "Uhh… We just came through the stargate… uhh… the chaapa'ai?"

"Chaapa'ai!" the one in the front cried out and the group fell on their knees.

"No, no, please don't…do that," Daniel sighed. I decided to intervene at this point.

"As much as I admire your ability to make friends," I told him. "You seriously need to stop rushing ahead without your team to support you." Sam came up behind me and kept her weapon ready, but not pointed to the kneeling priests.

"Sorry," Daniel replied, abashed. He turned back to the priests and started talking to them. "Please, you don't have to do this," he said as he pulled the priest who had spoken to his feet. The priest stood and pulled back his hood, identifying him and his brothers as belonging to Apophis by the stylized snake tattoo on his forehead.

"Chula asla?" the priest at the front asked us.

After a moment, Daniel recognized the words. "'Choose.' They want to know if we're here to choose," he said, looking at me. I shrugged in response.

"Ahh, sure! Sure, choosing is good," he replied. While it was clear the priest had no idea what he just said, he seemed encouraged a bit by Daniel's agreeing tone.

Daniel turned to me to explain. "Their language seems to be a derivation of Arabic, combined with-"

"You can write a paper about it later, Daniel. What I'm hoping is that there's a town or something nearby that they can take us to," I replied.

"Ahh…would you take us to…uhh, ahh…would you take us to…arrish? Arrish?" Daniel asked as he made a house-like gesture with his hands by steepling them together like a triangle

"Chulak!" the priest replied happily, seeming very patient with our lack of a common language. He then beckoned for us to follow him while repeating the word.

"I guess we're off to Chulak then," I said before leading the way for my team.

**~SG-WOLF~**

After another half hour of walking we came across a stone-built city on top of a hill. It had tall dark walls running between towers that protected the settlement. I wondered at how useful those defenses would be in the event this planet was invaded. They certainly wouldn't do anything about a fleet in orbit and I couldn't see any sort of weapons installations around here that could protect the city from ships or aircraft. Could those stones even fend off a concentrated bombardment from staff weapons or cannons? It just seemed like a waste of effort considering the types of attack this place might face from other goa'uld. It may have just been vanity on behalf of Apophis or perhaps just demonstrated the backwards warfare jaffa were used to fighting.

"Chulak!" the priest proudly said as he pointed at the town.

"Chulak. Sounds good," Daniel said as we continued on, our sights fixed on the city.

As we walked closer to the high walls of the city, I got a closer look at the architectural style used in its construction and noted how strange it was. The walls were almost Greek in style, but there were Egyptian style decorations everywhere we looked. As we ventured further in, much of it appeared not just peculiar with all of the conflicting styles existing alongside of each other but grew more luxurious as we entered the wing of some sort of palace.

After we entered the palace, we were moved to a room full of people in elaborate clothing gathered around a large table covered in plates of food and clay jugs containing drinks. The people here were mostly women wearing gowns and dresses, but there were also a few men wearing short togas.

The priest spoke grandly before bowing and departing with his fellows. I presume it was also to announce us as the people present all turned to look at us and began chattering away as we sat down.

"Not the worst welcome I've ever received," I remarked as we walked a few steps into the room. Several of the slaves came forward to guide us to cushions at the head of the table to be seated at. As we sat down, more came up to us with cups and plates and set them down in front of us.

"Why are they treating us like this?" Sam asked me.

"They think we're gods," Daniel answered.

"Well that'll make things easier," I replied.

"Make what easier?" Sam asked.

"Getting some answers out of these people as to what's going on," I explained. "Anyone else think it was odd we were guided here so easily and immediately dropped into what looks like someone's harem?"

Sam seemed to think about that for a second. "It does seem odd that nobody tried to talk to us yet," she remarked. "Could they be mistaking us for someone else?"

"This is a feast of some kind. Apparently, _someone's_ expected," Daniel noted.

At that point, a guy with a massive horn blew into it and immediately, all activity around us halted. The slaves all began prostrating themselves in the direction of a set of large, elaborate doors at the far end of the room. Daniel was the first to pick up on it, then Sam. I stayed sitting for a few moments longer, not liking the idea of bowing to the asshole I knew was about to enter.

"When in Rome…" Daniel trailed off. I sighed before moving into a prostrating position myself but I kept my eyes up. I heard the sound of many steel boots impacting against the stone floor in a marching pattern. The sound grew louder as the Serpent Guards wearing them came closer towards us, finally entering the room we were in and taking flanking positions on either side of the door.

That was when I saw Teal'c for the first time. He looked much like his tv show counterpart; an absolutely massive brown skinned man with impressive muscles visible even beneath the armor he was wearing. The prominent golden serpent tattoo on his forehead drew the eyes to his face, which appeared so stern it was as if it were carved into a permanent frown.

He then spoke several words, two of which I recognized; goa'uld and Apophis. He then walked to the side to make way for a man wearing ornate robes along with a tall crown-like hat depicting a snake at its front. He was wearing a great deal of gold jewelry and was accompanied by a woman who wore a white veil and robes.

"Behold," Apophis began grandly as he turned to the woman and lifted her veil. "your Queen."

We were already too late. Amonet had already taken Sha're as her host.

"Sha're?" Daniel murmured before he scrambled to his feel.

"Daniel!" I hissed as I reached out and tried to stop him, but he just shrugged me off.

"Sha're, thank God you're alright…" Daniel began but Apophis cut him off.

"Kneel before your Queen!" he ordered, seeming angrier that Daniel was standing than wondering what he was doing talking to his new queen.

"Sha're, it's me!" Daniel said.

However, Sha're's only response was for her eyes to flash with yellow light.

Apophis seemed to decide that that was enough. He then threw Danial across the room with a kinetic blast from his hand device. Daniel slammed hard into the wall and slid down onto the ground, unconscious. I rose from my spot, MP5 in hand, but Sha're stood in front of my target with her arms out and covered Apophis. I didn't know if Apophis didn't have his shield activated or if maybe Amonet did and that was why she felt so confident putting herself in harm's way like that, but it didn't matter for long.

I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head for a moment before everything went black and I lost consciousness.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I awoke to the sound of Skaara calling for me to wake up. "Len'nex! Len'nex!"

"Ahh, damnit, my head!" I groaned as I sat up. I immediately regretted doing so as the room seemed to spin and grow fuzzy. I blinked hard and felt the lump on the back of my head where someone must have his me pretty damn hard with something, probably the weighted end of a staff weapon.

"Len'nex!" Skaara gasped in relief as I sat up and he helped me to my feet.

"Hey Skaara," I grinned as I withdrew my other hand from my head and clapped it on the boy's shoulder in a friendly greeting. We were in a dark room made of large stone bricks and a dirt floor. On the far side of the room, there was a short flight of steps leading up to a large barred gate that was currently closed with a pair of jaffa guarding it from the outside. There was perhaps a few dozen men and women clustered into small groups in the room with us, all looking a bit worse for wear with dirty clothing and frightened expressions.

"Where's Sam? And Daniel?" I asked.

"She is there with Daniel," Skaara replied, pointing through the crowd. I nodded and walked over to the spot Skaara pointed at. There I saw Sam kneeling next to a prone Daniel.

"Carter," I said as I reached her. She turned around and quickly stood up. "Sir," she greeted.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"A few hours," she reported. "I wasn't knocked out so I've been awake the whole time. When we got here, I let the boy watch over you while I did the same for Daniel. He introduced himself as Skaara, so I figured he was trustworthy."

"Right. Well, see if you can wake him up. I'm gonna have a look around," I said.

"Yes, sir," she replied before attempting to get Daniel awake.

I spent about twenty minutes looking around, but already knew that there was no conventional way out. I also had to explain to Skaara what had happened to Sha're without confusing him. He was a smart kid, but he didn't really have any context for me to accurately explain what was happening. Soon after, I heard Daniel coughing.

'_Those hand devices are no joke. Daniel should consider himself lucky he didn't get put _into _the wall_,' I thought to myself before walking over to where they were with Skaara following me.

"Any luck, sir?" Sam asked as we approached.

"No dice," I informed her. "Wall looks like it opens to the forest outside, but it's too thick to try digging through or under and those windows are too high and barred to make them a feasible option."

"Daniel! You are finally awake!" Skaara walked forward to kneel down and embrace the archaeologist.

"I think so," he replied shakily and coughed once before letting go of Skaara. We then helped him back to his feet slowly as he got his bearings back.

"Take it easy for a bit, Danny. You're lucky that kinetic blast didn't kill you went flying across the room," I said.

"Len'nex told me about Sha're," Skaara said.

"Lennex, we have to try again…" Daniel started.

"Daniel… I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but she's got one of those things inside of her now. You and I both saw her eyes glow and how she was acting. They got the drop on us today, Daniel. There's not much for us to do today except get out of here and regroup," I tried to convince him.

"But…"

"Daniel!" I said forcefully, cutting him off from making another protest. "Our mission is a bust today, but right now, we need to focus on a plan to get out of here, regroup and figure out how we'll get her back another day. We're not done trying, but we're not going to get it done today."

Daniel sat morosely, taking in what I had just told him as I turned to Sam. "Any word on what might have happened to our missing airman?"

Sam shook her head. "No, sir. I tried asking a few others, but even the ones that seemed to understand me didn't know who I was talking about."

I sighed. "If she's not with us or if we don't know anything more by the time we work out an escape, we may have to head back without her," I said. "Given what we've seen thus far, I'm not too hopeful myself. This doesn't seem like the kind of place to take good care of its prisoners." I gestured at the bare cell with its dirt floor and crowded accommodations. Sam nodded, not happy, but acknowledging that without some kind of lead, we couldn't wait around to look for confirmation of whether she was alive or dead. I of course, knew she was almost certainly dead, so I didn't intend to wait around to find her body even if we weren't on the clock right now. As appealing as it was to always retrieve the bodies of our fallen, there was no way I was risking everyone's lives for the sake of tradition.

"Carter, you still got that transmitter?" I asked Sam.

"Here, sir," she held it up, having retrieved it from inside her jacket.

"Make sure you keep that close," I told her. "When we get out of here, we'll probably be in a big rush. As far as we know, that'll be our only shot back if Dragon already booked it back home by then."

Sam nodded before tucking the transmitter back inside her jacket and out of sight.

"Now, let's see if we can manage our escape in a reasonable amount of time," I muttered, checking my watch for how much longer we had before we got locked out and our codes erased. Suddenly, I was pulled back as my arm was wrenched up by an armored gauntlet with an iron grip beneath it.

"Ow, dammit, hey!" I cried out and looked at the face of the Serpent Guard who had walked up behind us.

"What is this?" he asked. I recognized Teal'c's voice coming from inside the helmet.

I looked down to see that he was referring to the digital watch around my wrist.

"It's called a watch. Tells me the time," I replied.

Teal'c then partially deactivated his helmet to get a better look at it. He spent several seconds looking at it before looking back at me. "Where are you from?"

"Earth," I replied.

"Your words means nothing. Where are you from?" he repeated.

"Ahh, excuse me," Daniel interrupted before drawing the Earth point-of-origin symbol in the sand. "This is where we're from," he said.

Teal'c took a long look at it before he erased the symbol with the end of his staff. He then stepped back and walked out of the room, flanked by two other Serpent Guards.

"That was certainly an interesting encounter," I said.

"What do you think that was about?" Daniel asked me. I just shrugged non-committedly.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daylight streamed through the very small window holes that lined the top of the cell we were all stuck in. The night had been very cold, but I pitied Kawalsky and the others who were roughing it out in those woods. The torches in here seemed to provide a bit of heat, but people were still clustered together and sharing body heat last night.

I was still looking around the place and had hoisted myself up to one of the little windows by getting a boost from Skaara and grasping the bars as he lifted me. I still couldn't see much outside; just some grass, stone, gravel, dirt and trees. But, I made a note that there were no patrols or busy roads within sight of this wall. It was just a clear shot to the woods from here. A horrible security oversight on the part of the guys who built this place, but I suppose that's just goa'uld arrogance for you.

I lowered myself down, landing next to Skaara who was still worried and asking me questions about what we were going to do to get out of here.

"Sha're is lost to us?" he asked.

"No, not exactly," I sighed. "She's just…out of reach for now. It's a difficult thing to explain, but she's still alive," I replied.

"We will save her," he stated.

"We will, somehow. But we need a way out of here first."

"But you are great warrior! Together we defeated Ra!" he protested.

"We also had a lot of luck when we did that," I told him. "Skaara, I promise you, Sha're is still alive and we will save her, but it may take time and we'll have to be smart about it. It's how we beat Ra, remember?" I asked. He nodded, remembering.

I felt my heart grow heavy as I knew what was coming soon. I reached over to Skaara and placed my hands on his shoulders as he looked at me. "Skaara," I began. "What's important is that we hold on and don't give up. Sha're is gone, but only for now. I need you to believe me when I say this, do you understand me?" he nodded.

"I'm going to fix this," I told him. "I don't know how long it'll take, but I'm going to set all of this right. Until then, remember that these assholes aren't gods and we've beaten them before. We will do it again."

A loud scraping sound alerted us to the gates of the cell opening. I pulled Skaara over to where Daniel and Sam were standing as we watched Serpent Guards stream in and take up flanking positions along the sides of the chamber. They were followed by Teal'c, who stood in the center with his helmet deactivated.

"Shalaha, kre homel, Goa'uld!" he called out, holding his arms wide.

"Did you understand any of that?" I asked Skaara.

"They're going to choose," he replied, fear and anger creeping into his tone.

"Choose what?" Sam asked.

"Who will be the children of the gods," he told her.

Behind the line of Serpent Guards, a procession of finely dressed people entered which was then followed with a large platform carried by four strongly built men who I recognized as slaves. The palanquin as I remembered it was called, was lowered and the Head Asshole himself stepped out. He took a moment to survey us all before he turned and held out his hand back to the palanquin. A moment later his queen, Amonet, emerged in the body of Sha're.

"Sha're-," Daniel was about to move forward, but Sam and I held him back.

"Not now, Daniel," I hissed back at him and he got the message, stopping his struggling, but we still kept a hold of him.

Teal'c spoke at length in goa'uld as the slaves quickly stepped out into the crowd and began pushing us all to the ground. Apophis and his retainers all held gloating looks on their faces as the prisoners were all driven to their knees before them.

"Kneel before your masters!" Teal'c called out to us.

Sam and Daniel were forced into kneeling on the ground. I glanced at Teal'c and saw him looking at me. I held his gaze for a few moments before voluntarily kneeling myself before one of the slaves came by to force me. Beside me, Skaara was still standing tall and defiant at what was happening.

"Skaara," I said to the kid. He looked at me before complying, albeit slowly and with a lot of obvious reluctance.

We watched as several of the goa'uld began to walk down into the cell itself, observing select prisoners. The servants occasionally brought forward a person to be inspected more closely. Some of them were rejected and tossed back onto the ground while a few others were accepted and dragged off out of the cell. I kept my eyes on Teal'c to see his reaction at what was happening. His face was stern as he watched, but I could see the disgust in his eyes as more new hosts were dragged past him.

_'That is not the look of a man who is happy with himself,'_ I thought.

One of the goa'uld walked past and Daniel reached out and grabbed his sleeve. I rose to pull him off but was met with two primed staff weapons pointed at us both.

"This one is passionate," the goa'uld said amusedly in that deep tone that all goa'uld liked to use.

"How much would I remember if you chose me?" Daniel asked desperately. "Something of the host must survive."

The guy slowly shook his head and smirked down at us. Daniel just sat there, despair finally hitting him as he began to cry quietly.

The goa'uld stood gloatingly over Daniel as he wept before looking over the rest of us. He then pointed at Skaara. "We choose him."

We all froze as the implication of what he had just said sunk in. Then, the servants moved forward and hauled him away, with Skaara crying out in Abydonian the whole time.

"Skaara!" I called to him, but got a swipe over the face from a staff for my trouble.

"Len'nex! Len'nex!" Skaara called out to me as he was moved past Apophis and Amonet. It seemed he was the last one to be chosen as the Serpent Guards walked up the stairs and stood ready.

"Kill the rest," Apophis smiled and everyone began to scream and cry out in fear. They all scrambled to the back of the cell while Sam, Daniel and I rose but did not panic. We watched the goa'uld leave, along with most of the guards, leaving only six behind along with Teal'c to finish them off.

_'I hope this works,'_ I thought before I walked forward.

"I can save these people!" I called to Teal'c, who spun around as he primed his staff and pointed it at me. "I know you can't agree with this. You don't have to do this," I said as I looked him dead in the eye, determined. "Help me."

"Many have said that!" Teal'c replied as I continued to stare him down. He did the same before he swiftly turned himself around and blasted the nearest Serpent Guard in the chest, sending him flying back from the force of the impact.

"But you are the first I believed could do it!" he called out as he tossed his weapon to me. I immediately stepped forward, grasping the staff and bringing it down into a firing position. I targeted the first Serpent Guard and triggered the firing switch, sending out a blast that impacted right into his snake helmet and dropping him like a stone.

Having finally snapped out of their stupor, the rest of the jaffa quickly open fired on us. I then fired a second time and a third time, downing two more guards while walking sideways quickly to create a moving target. The Serpent Guards fired off a few shots, but seemed to have a hard time targeting me and sent many of their shots wide. At least three of the prisoners behind me went down from direct hits and I didn't see them get up again.

During this, Teal'c had rolled forward, not encumbered by a bulky helmet like the rest, and managed to pick up a staff from a dead guard and quickly finished off the remaining two while firing from a kneeling position.

Jaffa warriors swarmed at the cell gate and attempted to open it to help their fellows, but a few staff blasts from Teal'c and I forced them to retreat. I then turned around and pointed at the wall.

"Out of the way, now!" I ordered, waving one hand to try and get my intention across to the others.

The people in the way scattered, leaving a clear path open to the back wall of the cell. I fired several precision shots in a tight pattern to open a large enough hole for everyone to get through. Sam and I ran forward to make sure the outside was clear before we ducked back inside.

"Come on, let's move!" I called out as Sam took point, leading the liberated prisoners out of the cell. They quickly began to filter out through the hole and run for the forest where Sam was waving them all down to gather near her. Soon, they had all gotten out and Daniel was the last one to come through. Daniel moved over to me.

"You still with us, Daniel?" I asked. He hesitated but nodded, not trusting his voice. I wanted to tell him the bastard was lying. I wanted to tell him that I had a plan to get Sha're back and a backup for that if needed. But I had a cover to maintain and even I couldn't trust my future knowledge past a certain point. But I couldn't stand seeing my friend in such clear pain without saying something.

I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, keeping him beside me for a moment longer. "Don't trust what that prick told you," I said. "He'd have no reason to be honest with you and took too much pleasure in telling you that for it to be trustworthy. We're gonna get her back and we're gonna get that thing out of her."

Daniel was quiet for a few seconds, but soon nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly.

I then let him go and pushed him in the direction of the treeline before turning back to see Teal'c, who was discarding pieces of his armor as he walked through the cell. The bodies of dead Serpent Guard drew his eyes as he watched the red eyes of the last helmets go dim, supposedly signifying the death of the occupant.

Seeing the lost look on his face, it's easy for me to understand why O'Neill wouldn't leave him behind. More than just being the right thing to do, Teal'c had such a lost look about him that it was clear that while I knew he did not regret betraying his 'gods' and would later be vindicated for his heroism today, it still stung him to turn his back on everything he knew. He may have done it for the right reasons, but it clearly weighed heavily on him. Even if I didn't know how important he would be in the future, I would feel compelled to save this man.

"You coming or what?" I called to him.

He hesitated for a moment before replying. "I have nowhere to go."

"For this, you can stay at my place, now let's go!" I replied with a wave for him to hurry up and join me. He then began to slowly walk over to me, picking up speed.

"So, what's your name?" I asked as he moved through the hole.

"Teal'c," the ex-First Prime replied.

"I'm Colonel Lennex MacDuff," I replied as I stuck out my hand. He responded by grasping half my arm strongly in a kind of warrior handshake. I had forgotten that jaffa did that. "Alright then. Now, where will they take the boy I was with, Skaara?"

"To the stargate," he replied as we began to move swiftly with the others. "After they've selected hosts for their children, they will return home."

After we reached a short outcrop of flat land, we were about fifteen minutes from the base camp. "We've got about an hour before we get locked out. How about the rest of these people? Does anyone need help moving?" I asked.

"Everyone's good to travel, sir. We lost a few of them when we reached the forest," Sam replied. "They just took off on their own."

"Damnit, I was afraid we'd have that happen. I doubt they'll survive long on their own in these woods," I said.

"They will be hunted down and killed," Teal'c agreed. "Anyone who does not exist to serve the gods is their enemy."

"Yeah, so what does that make you?" I asked.

"I am a jaffa. Bred to serve, that they may live," he replied.

"I don't understand," Daniel said, confused.

Teal'c stopped and I braced myself for what was coming next as he undid the clasps for his chainmail shirt to reveal the 'X' shaped pouch he had there. And a moment later, the larval goa'uld symbiote poked its head out of the opening.

Everyone nearby gave a short scream and I winced at the disgusting sight. I was never really a fan of body horror and this was absolutely disgusting to see in real life instead of a TV show.

"What the hell is that?" Daniel asked.

"It is an infant goa'uld, the larval form of the gods," Teal'c explained. "I have carried one since I was a child, as all jaffa carry one."

"Alright, we got it, just put that thing away!" I said, getting seriously grossed out by the sight of the thing waving its head around out of the pouch. Teal'c complied by allowing the snake to retreat back inside before pulling the chainmail back over the hole and clasping it shut.

"This is the twelfth I have carried," he said.

"Well, can't you ditch it or something?" I asked.

He looked at me for a long moment. "In exchange for carrying the infant goa'uld until maturity, a jaffa receives perfect health and long life. If I were to remove it, I would eventually die."

"Well, that sucks," I replied. "Nothing we can do about it now then. Just...keep it in your pouch, alright?" Teal'c nodded, not reacting to my attempt at humor.

"Why are you helping us?" Sam asked.

"The goa'uld are conquerors, nothing more. Unworthy of the worship or sacrifices made in their name. You are the first I have seen with powers that approach theirs," Teal'c said.

"We've held our own thus far," I said. "But honestly, we're a long way off from fighting them head on."

"And yet, you are strong," Teal'c assured me. "You have shown more strength than any I have seen in person. I choose to place my faith in you now."

At that moment, an oversized Death Glider flew over our heads and headed in the direction of the stargate. I knew it was most likely carrying Apophis and his entourage inside.

"Alright, time to step it up, people. Let's go! Move!" I urged loudly. Everyone began to scramble up the next hill, following one of the dirt paths that headed in the direction of the stargate.

Teal'c walked over to me. "The boy you seek is no longer who he was," he said. I didn't say anything in return, already knowing that while he wasn't technically correct, I was likely already too late to save Skaara from becoming a host. I just looked at him before continuing on.

We were coming up to the last ridge before the gate when the oversized Death Glider came back and deployed its staff cannons to fire.

"Get down! Everyone get to cover!" I called out as the large fighter began bombarding the area with energy blasts, sending up dirt and rock every time the shots hit the ground. A few people were slow to get the message and went down on the first pass, their bodies flying as the force of the blasts sent them through the air.

By the time the fighter was coming around for its second pass, most of the prisoners had taken cover in the trees lining the path we were using. Teal'c and I knelt on the ground and began firing up at the ship. I cursed the lack of sights or aiming ability on the staff as Teal'c and I eyeballed our shots, making a few hits, but appearing to not really do any damage to the enemy craft.

"Colonel, we're sitting ducks here!" Sam called over.

"I am aware of that, captain!" I yelled back. Teal'c and I readied our weapons and began firing as the glider lined up for another pass. I was waiting for our reinforcements to arrive, but if they didn't we might manage to get a lucky shot in.

However, a new sound reached my ears and I saw a rocket shoot over our heads and explode into the second fighter, knocking off part of one of the wings. That must have been enough, because it then spun out of control and hit the ground in a ball of fire.

Everyone began cheering and I looked up behind me to see Kawalsky and his team cheering on the ridge. "Now that's good timing!" I yelled as I pumped my fist into the air. I then turned to the prisoners. "Let's go, people! Up the hill!" I called before we jogged over to SG-Dragon.

"Good shooting, fellas. Thanks for the rescue" I grinned as we met up with Kawalsky.

"Consider yourself lucky I like you so much," Kawalsky grinned back before sobering slightly. "Saw that ship drop off a bunch of fancily dressed people off at the gate before we headed back here to give you support."

"How many are there?"

"A little over a dozen," he reported. "They're going back through the gate."

"They took Skaara and Sha're. Did you spot them in the group?" I asked.

"We did," he confirmed. "Almost didn't recognize them at first. We considered trying to free them, but that fighter made the decision for us when we saw it come back and open fire on the forest."

I nodded, understanding. "We picked up some other prisoners on our way out," I told him. "We're getting close to the lockout. We gotta hurry or we'll be stuck here."

We then scrambled up the last hill with Kawalsky shouting orders to his team as they herded the prisoners along. We reached the top of the ridge, only to see the last three Goa'uld about to pass through the gate.

"Skaara!" I called out and he turned around to look at me. I knew it was definitely too late as he only smirked at me and flash his eyes before he and the others stepped through the gate.

"Goddammit," I sighed before we made our way down the ridge as the stargate powered off. We were too far away and at the wrong angle to get a good look at exactly which symbols were being used.

"Sir, we got hostiles coming out of the trees! Lots of them!" a member of Dragon reported over the radio before we heard them firing from behind our group. I could hear the sound of energy blasts as well, making it clear that our pursuers had caught up with us.

"Okay people, we're going on a little field trip," Kawalsky advised the refugees.

"Daniel, start dialing home," I said before turning to Sam. "Get those claymores ready and pass the detonator to Kawalsky." She immediately retrieved the fuse box and passed it to the major.

"Me and the rest of Dragon will be the last men out," Kawalsky said as he took the charges from Sam.

"Not without help you're not," I overruled him before looking back at Sam. "Once Daniel gets that gate open I want you to send the signal and go through with him. Let the general know we're coming in hot and we're bringing in refugees with us. We'll wait thirty seconds and start sending people through."

"Let's go, move, move, move!" Kawalsky urged the crowd to follow us. They all started huddling around the large stones arrayed around the stargate Kawalsky started advising them to keep their heads down as he moved behind cover and prepared to fire at any jaffa coming in over the hill.

"We can't hold them, sir!" Casey said on the radio.

"Pull them back and get them down here!" I ordered Kawalsky.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" he ordered as he and his last teammate readied their weapons to provide cover from any pursuing jaffa.

"Daniel, we need that exit!" I said as I watched him slowly press the correct buttons on the DHD. The last two members of SG-Dragon came sprinting down the ridge as they ran like hell to get to us and some cover. A few seconds later, the reason was obvious as the first jaffa emerged from the other side of the ridge. Kawalsky and his teammate opened fire and downed him with a few well placed shots, but soon a dozen more emerged and started returning fire as some of them tried to descend the hill while firing. All the while, more jaffa showed up along the ridge.

"Let's give 'em the business, Kawalsky!" I called over to Kawalsky. He reached for the detonator and pressed the activation switch.

Immediately, the entire ridge erupted into explosions, blasting several of the jaffa attempting a charge down the ridge, cutting them down. He then hit the activator switch a second time, setting the second line of claymores off, blowing away most of the jaffa who were using the top of the ridge as cover to fire down at us.

The timing was just right as behind me, Daniel dialed the correct sequence for Earth and the stargate activated.

"Captain, let's get these people out of here now! Move!" Kawalsky ordered Sam. She acknowledged the order and sprang to her feet, heading over to Daniel and the now active gate. She pulled out the signal device we had been given and entered the code as she spoke to Daniel.

"And...send!" she said as she hit the last button and lowered the device. She turned to Daniel. "Thirty seconds and they'll send the first group through. Let's go!" she told Daniel before she bolted through the gate with Daniel right behind her.

After a few seconds went past before the first pair of refugees got up at some prompting from us and quickly headed through the active stargate. More of the refugees got up in small groups and headed to the gate behind them, keeping their heads down, but thankfully not rushing as to trample each other on their way through.

Throughout this process, Kawalsky, Teal'c and I along with the rest of Dragon continued to hold the line. Casey had redeployed his light machine gun and was laying down controlled bursts into any groups of jaffa that tried to charge over the ridge or were just more exposed than the guy lying next to him. Teal'c and I kept up a steady barrage with our captured staff weapons as Kawalsky and his other two teammates worked to keep any other jaffa from reaching the bottom of the ridge. Unfortunately, a few brave and lucky souls had managed to make it and were now taking cover behind some of the rocks in the clearing as they fired upon us.

This was going to be tight.

I caught something out of the corner of my eye and turned to see one of the refugees hurling rocks at them. He was a burly fellow wearing an outfit that seemed to consist of mostly animal hides. I looked in the direction he was throwing and saw one brain a jaffa crouching behind cover, downing him. He threw his hands in the air in triumph.

"Appreciate the help big guy, but now it's your turn to go," I replied, gesturing for the large man to head to the gate while I reloaded. Thankfully, the refugees had avoided being hit by the attacking jaffa and the last cluster was heading through now. The large man grunted before jogging up behind the last group and following them through.

"That's it!" I called. "Everyone fall back, we're good to go!"

"Warren, Holden, you're first!" Kawalsky called out. I then turned to the front and kept firing.

The two of them stood up and finished emptying their weapons as they sprinted through the gate. By this point, the jaffa had figured out that flanking was a good idea and a small group was coming up from our left and trying to surprise us. An energy blast struck beside Casey at the ground near him, sending him to the ground and cutting off our LMG support.

"Casey!" Kawalsky called out and he ran over to his teammate. I went over and helped Kawalsky haul Casey to his feet as Teal'c covered us from behind me.

"Take him and go!" I yelled as energy blasts started impacting all around us, the jaffa now pressing us hard without the LMG to keep them at bay. Nearby, a pair of jaffa charged right at us and I didn't even hesitate as I fired my captured staff weapon and cut down the first idiot to run towards us. That's what you get for ignoring cover.

Teal'c followed up my shot by landing some of his own and keeping some of the nearby jaffa at bay. It wasn't much, but we avoided another attempted charge for the moment. We then moved past the DHD, covering Kawalsky and Casey as they moved towards the event horizon. Both men made it through without being hit again by enemy fire.

A moment after they were through, I slapped Teal'c on his armored shoulder, "Let's go!" I yelled as we both turned on our heels and charged through the gate. We emerged through on the other side and Sam immediately yelled for the techs to close the Iris. I turned to see the Iris slide into place over the wormhole. After a few seconds of silence, there were suddenly two loud clangs against the shield before the wormhole disengaged.

I gave a long sigh of relief as the iris slid away back into the stargate. I turned to see two medics move to Casey's side and Kawalsky fussing over his teammate, who looked to just be injured at the legs and a little shaken. I was more than a little pleased with myself that Kawalsky was definitely goa'uld free this time around. None of the jaffa got close enough to infect him with their symbiote. I had made sure of that this time.

I moved away from them, and was immediately swamped by all the refugees hugging me and the rest of the SG team members while thanking us each in their own ways. I smiled and nodded as we pushed our way through the crowd towards the bottom of the ramp.

"Colonel MacDuff, you care to explain this?" Hammond asked as I pushed through the last few people.

"Uh, we can use the stargate to send all of these people home, sir," Sam assured the general.

"What's he doing here?" he asked angrily as he pointed to Teal'c.

I walked over and placed my hand on the jaffa's shoulder. "General Hammond, this is Teal'c," I introduced formally. "He's here to help us."

"Do you know what he is?" he practically yelled at me.

"He's the man who saved all of our lives, sir. And if you accept my recommendation, he'll join SG-Wolf," I replied.

Hammond looked a lot more placated after I mentioned that he was the one to have saved us, but was still looking less than pleased at the situation. "That decision may not be up to you," he cautioned before Samuels ordered everyone to stand away as the medics got Casey onto a stretcher and off the ramp. The refugees also began to walk off the ramp, making some space.

"Colonel MacDuff, Major Kawalsky," the General gained our attention. "The sure-to-be-very-interesting debriefing of SG units Wolf and Dragon will be held at 0730 hours."

"Yes, sir," both Kawalsky and I said at the same time.

"Alright, let's get these people situated. This way," Samuels ordered as he led the way for the refugees down the corridor outside the gate room.

There was silence between us all as we stood at the edge of the ramp leading to the stargate. I turned to see Daniel gazing back at the gate with a forlorn look in his eyes.

"She's out there somewhere, Lennex. Skaara too," Daniel said.

"I know," I replied. "We'll get them back."

"You're still certain of that?" he asked.

"Absolutely," I replied. "I'm going to set it all right, Daniel. I promise you."

Daniel smiled slightly as he remembered the same words I had said before. "Right," he nodded.

I clapped him on the shoulder before walking off the ramp with Teal'c, Sam and Daniel following behind me. The newly formed SG-Wolf, together at last, even if I was the only one to realize that.

Not an outright victory, but a victory nonetheless. We had a long road ahead of us and I had a promise to live up to.

**AN: Finally done with that arc! Next time, we'll be digging into more of Lennex's plan for making changes and from there, knocking out the first few episodes of the series. Definitely won't be spending whole chapters on the dumber episodes, so expect things to move fairly quickly between arcs and major changes.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 11: The New Playbook and an Interrogation

"_Unscheduled off world activation!" _

We all stood up in the briefing room as Sargent Harriman called out an alarm overhead and the sirens started to blare. The stargate began to activate and the iris was closed just before the wormhole connected. Security teams poured into the Gate Room as Hammond went down the steps leading to the Control Room and the rest of us followed behind him.

"I'll give you three guesses who it is," I remarked sarcastically.

"I'll probably only need one," Kawalsky replied.

Hammond ordered to base's auto-destruct to begin a countdown as the first of many loud bangs emanated from the iris. Since the Iris only covered the front of the gate, we could observe the flashes of whatever was coming through hitting the Iris and vanishing back into the event horizon. We weren't sure if whatever was coming through was solid or what, but it certainly made quite a bang when it hit.

"We'll have a hard time going on any missions if the goa'uld keep up these attacks," Kawalsky remarked.

"It's not like they can keep up these attacks forever," Daniel replied before seeming to think about it for a second. "They can't, right?"

"Once they realize our gate defenses are impenetrable, they should just give up," Carter said.

"Part of me wants to just let 'em through," Kawalsky said, wincing at another loud bang and a series of flashes coming from the back of the gate. "Just give 'em the fight they're looking for."

"Understandable," I responded. "But I prefer to fight in a time and place of our choosing, not theirs. To me, letting them fight us in our house for even a bit would seem self-defeating. I'd much rather fight them where they live."

"I hear that," Kawalsky responded with a grin. The older man held out a closed fist to me and I responded by bumping it with my own. He seemed completely baffled by the gesture when I had first shown it to him but had quickly decided that he liked it. I don't remember seeing the gesture used in the show and since nobody else seemed to recognize it, it was likely that it hadn't become a common thing yet in this universe. So, I was definitely going to be taking credit for inventing the gesture if anyone asked.

"Besides, I've got that feeling that it wouldn't be a fair fight either way," I continued. "They're probably sending more than just jaffa through with these attacks. I'm not too eager to find out what exactly it is they're sending along with them."

Daniel turned a surprised look to me. "You think they're sending people through the gate at us?" he asked, looking appalled at the idea.

"Like bugs on a windshield," I remarked, quoting O'Neill's original analogy.

Three more bumps hit the Iris before the stargate shut off. Sergeant Harriman called for the technicians to come in with scanning equipment to check for radiation or biological threats. Hammond called for security teams to stand down while he deactivated the auto-destruct sequence.

"The sooner they realize attacking us like this is a bust," I remarked. "The sooner we might be able to go a day without being interrupted by this."

Suddenly, the stargate began to light up once again. The technicians grabbed their equipment and ran out of the room as the security teams scrambled and got back into position. Harriman sounded the base-wide alarm again as Hammond reset the base's auto-destruct.

I heaved a sigh. _'This crap is getting old, quick,' _I thought.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Speaking of situations beyond my ability to control…

"Colonel, at this time, I still can't grant your request to have Teal'c join SG-Wolf."

It was about an hour later that I found myself sitting in General Hammond's office as he gave me the official response to my proposal to have Teal'c assigned to my team. I was hoping that I had accumulated enough clout and good will by this point that my request might have a better chance of being granted than O'Neill's, but it looked like that was a bust.

Time to sweeten the deal.

"I can understand the reluctance of both yourself and our superiors, sir," I began. "But Teal'c has proven himself worthy of at least a chance. He threw away everything and everyone he knew to free us and those prisoners. What's more, he's already helped by providing us with the missing addresses for the rest of those prisoners we rescued."

That had been a surprise to me. I'm not sure if it's the same as the original universe, but not all of the refugees knew the address they had been taken from. We had been concerned that we'd either be holding onto them for a while or have to send them back with some of the other groups and just hope for the best. None of them had wanted to stay here, so our options were becoming rather limited.

Teal'c had come through again for us with just a little bit of prompting. I had asked him if he knew the addresses that had been used by Apophis' jaffa to conduct the raids that had taken those people in the first place. He professed that he did and had written them down for us. Apparently, while Apophis had not gone on each of the raids, he had no problem ordering Teal'c to lead the attacks, much to Teal'c's personal discomfort. The gold-plated jackass had only decided to come along when he had felt like tormenting some humans every now and then.

"You've made an excellent case on his behalf, colonel," Hammond said. "You've even managed to get him to provide a good deal of usable information for us."

Hammond was referring to Teal'c's deciphering of the controls in the captured gliders. I had procured some pictures and had decided to ask Teal'c if he could translate the writing in the cockpit. He had been surprised that we had managed to capture gliders but had gladly told us what everything in the cockpit said as well as some basic information on how to operate the craft and even how to remove the staff cannons on the wings. He wasn't able to tell us anything about how the technology worked since he was under the impression that knowledge of goa'uld 'magic' was forbidden to jaffa, but what he did provide had definitely advanced our deciphering of the gliders by at least a few months without the trial and error involved.

The scientists at Area 51 (and hadn't _that_ been a hell of an interesting briefing packet!) had been thrilled for the jump forward their research had received. They had been eager that Teal'c be assigned to their base for further assistance and probable study, but had been disappointed when I informed them that the knowledge he could provide was entirely practical and limited since he was a soldier with no advanced training on how any of the stuff worked.

The intelligence geeks at the Pentagon had been pissed at first that I had revealed to Teal'c that we had the gliders at all. However, this wasn't my first time handling military bureaucracy in this life or in my previous one. The two things that can elevate you above any ass chewing are rank and results. As a colonel, I would have to irrefutably violate orders to have someone call me out on it. Besides that, even my superiors couldn't be too mad with me when I got results. Speaking with Teal'c was, thankfully, well within my purview. Those same intelligence geeks had quieted down when my actions ended up irrefutably benefiting our side and Hammond backed me up since that was not only his job as my CO, but my success made him look good too.

"We have a Colonel Kennedy en route from the Pentagon," Hammond continued. "He should be arriving later today. He'll want to ask Teal'c some questions in addition to what he's already provided."

"Might I ask what kind of questions, sir?" I inquired.

"His knowledge of enemy strongholds, weapons, troop strength, technology," Hammond elaborated.

"All of which he's been happy to provide us with, sir," I noted. "After they're done asking, I hope we can get to work on having him contribute in a more meaningful way once he's told us everything he knows."

"There has been some discussion about possible tests once the questioning has been completed," Hammond added.

"Tests, sir?" I asked, not liking the implications.

"As undeniably useful as he's been since his arrival, colonel," Hammond elaborated. "He is carrying a very dangerous enemy inside of his body. He's also the first alien lifeform we've encountered. That makes him a subject of scientific interest."

"I can appreciate that notion, sir," I answered in a far more reasonable tone than I initially wanted to. "However, it is my hope that we can learn to appreciate the benefits of treating him well and having him serve with us."

"How so?" Hammond asked.

"Sir," I began. "It's become clear that what we're dealing with here is a slave army. Our own encounters as well as the information we gained from Teal'c and those refugees before they left confirms that. These people have spent their lives living with a boot to their necks and the promise of death if they ever resisted. If we have Teal'c serving with us, he can serve as a living example that not only can resistance against their masters work, but that they may have allies if they were willing to take that risk.

"Not to mention that there's a certain level of practical experience he can bring to this command if he's allowed to remain here," I elaborated, getting to my main pitch for this meeting. I presented a plain white, professional looking binder with only the Air Force logo on the front to identify it.

"What is this?" Hammond asked while looking at the binder I placed in front of him.

"Call it the first edition of our new playbook, sir," I answered. "Something I've managed to write up between talking with Teal'c and my other duties."

I sat back in my chair as General Hammond opened the binder and began to sift through it. I had made this appointment for today because we were still on standby as the goa'uld were frequently dialing in and meeting failure against the Iris. The rest of the prisoners were due to go back later today, assuming these attacks let up long enough to not interfere in gate operations.

"Let's not play Twenty Questions today, colonel," Hammond remarked idly as he turned to the section of the binder I was the most proud of. "I'm looking at a diagram for a new Gate Room, why exactly?"

"Sorry sir," I said. "It's my new operating guide I want to implement for the SGC. As your new second in command, I thought t would be a good idea to get the ball rolling on a number of suggested changes and procedures I think we should implement given what we know. That diagram is my proposal for a new Gate Room."

Hammond had been busy himself the last few days, but not too busy where he couldn't drop the word to me that as the second highest ranking officer under the mountain and given my own phenomenal track record against this new threat, I was the new second in command of the SGC. I would retain command of SG-Wolf and be responsible for them in the field, but I also had a number of duties as Hammond's new right hand around here. And it was just the news I had been waiting for as I had been already working on this packet for some time now, but only now could submit it without arising too much suspicion.

"Any particular reasoning you want to change the Gate Room?" Hammond asked.

"Essentially, sir," I stated. "It's a terrible defensive position. The diagram goes into further detail in the attached pages, but the short of it is that we need more space."

We really did. Those twin .50 caliber turrets made me cringe whenever I saw them, but at least their operators had some cover. The security teams we had file into the Gate Room every time the alarm went off were forced to stand or kneel at the end of the ramp on a completely exposed concrete floor. Absolutely zero cover for anyone if someone walked through the gate and started shooting. Even later in the show, they kept doing this and it was embarrassing to watch how little it all did to stop a dedicated assault. It was like we had regressed to the age of warfare where men lined up in columns and volleyed musket fire at enemy formations.

This would hopefully be a start for putting an end to that crap.

To begin, we'd knock down the walls behind the stargate and expand the room further into the bedrock under the mountain. There were only a few rooms and a hallway behind the old missile testing silo, so we'd need to get some excavation gear in here to expand it back at least fifty yards, but ideally, at least a hundred. That would be a reasonable expansion and allow the defenders plenty of space to open fire if the arrivals turned out hostile.

As for the defenders, we definitely had to add something for them to take cover behind. My suggestion had called for deployable concrete barricades that could be activated to sink in and out of the floor to allow for more space if we had to embark a larger force, but even sandbag emplacements would be an improvement. Any enemy force that tried to force its way through wouldn't have an easy time of it, even if they got past the Iris.

"These are certainly very detailed, colonel," Hammond remarked as he turned the page and looked under a tab I had created labeled, 'Hearts & Minds.' "What about this section?

"Sir, it first occurred to me after Abydos," I began. "Talking with Teal'c and Daniel just brought it to mind again. Many of the slave populations we're dealing with probably aren't going to be in great shape when we come across them. And they're not going to be much better off once the goa'uld leave or abandon them due to the lack of technology available to them. I was thinking about how useful it'd be if we started thinking about missions of goodwill to some of the planets we visit. Even basic knowledge of things like medicine or agriculture would mean a great deal to these populations while we're essentially giving nothing away. It's not like the goa'uld can really benefit from us giving away that knowledge to their slaves since we know their own healing tech is so much better and as a ruling class, they hoard that knowledge like tyrants."

Hammond grunted in response as he looked at the official presentation binder in front of him. He went through the rest of it quickly before closing it and looking up at me. "This is certainly an impressive series of proposals, colonel," Hammond stated. I could tell by his tone and expression he either really meant that or was a far better liar than I gave him credit for. "I'll be going over it more thoroughly at a later date, but consider me on board for at least most of what I'm seeing here."

"Respectfully, sir," I started. "Only most of it?"

"Unfortunately, while I have the ear of the president as the commanding officer of this facility," Hammond began. "That only gives so much leeway with what I can ask for. This program is already breaking the budget and diverting funds from many other useful programs and projects. I'm already hearing grumblings about reactivating Cheyanne Mountain when NORAD isn't even primarily stationed here anymore. I don't know if we'll have the funding for all of this if I ask for it."

I nodded reluctantly at the general's response. Even with all the immediate gains we had achieved from using the stargate, money was still a concern. All of our funding had to be granted and scrubbed from official records by politicians who didn't get to know what it was going towards. It was how Senator Kinsey had managed to kick up such a fuss in the canon universe the first time around. He had been briefed on the program in an attempt to get him to quiet down, but that had backfired when he had galvanized his support base further and managed to make the argument that the program had too few gains to be considered worthwhile. I'd like to see the prick make that claim now that we had our own captured spaceships and energy weapons, plus whatever other goodies we brought back between now and then.

As for the rest of the mountain, I had my own ideas about that when the time came. In my universe, Cheyanne Mountain had kept a skeleton staff present to keep some of the lights on, but most of the equipment had been yanked in favor of the newer above-ground facility several miles away and closer to the main military base. It was capable of serving as a backup facility if needed, but was mostly just a big and expensive warehouse. This universe's Cheyanne Mountain was headed in a similar direction until the gate activated again and opened us up to a whole new universe.

Now, with all the attention being brought back to the mountain along with my future knowledge, I had a much more interesting ideas for what we could do with all that extra space as the program expanded.

Hammond checked his watch and looked back to me. "I won't deny you've made a good case for having Teal'c remain here, colonel. Colonel Kennedy should be arriving within the next few hours. I'll go over your proposals until then and see what I can do."

I nodded, stood and saluted the general who returned the gesture. I made a very pointed look at the red phone on his desk before exiting. The one that only called the White House. I didn't wait to check Hammond's reaction before I walked out.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"Hey, Teal'c."

Teal'c opened his eyes from the meditative pose he had taken on the floor and nodded as I entered the cell. I had hated having to throw the guy in here, but at least I could ensure he was being treated well after his arrival. I had asked him if he needed anything and had been only mildly surprised when he had requested a candle for kelno'reem. He hadn't gone into detail, but I recalled the meditation he and other jaffa practiced. I wasn't quite sure if it replaced sleep or was just a way to accommodate the symbiote, but I knew it was widely practiced by other jaffa according to the series canon.

I let the door close behind me and waved off the guard outside from entering the room with me. In a fight, Teal'c could probably (read; _definitely_) take me down in close quarters like this. However, I knew that he wouldn't, even if the others weren't quite certain yet. I walked over to where he was sitting and sat down on the floor beside him, but facing him. I wasn't really a fan of sitting on the concrete floor, but this was better for the prolonged conversations I planned to have with him to ensure he didn't get hauled away for some highly questionable experimentation.

I set down the notebook I was carrying on the floor beside me. I could start taking notes in a minute but right now, I wanted to check in on my future teammate.

"Everything alright here?" I asked. "Food alright? Anyone mistreating you?"

Teal'c inclined his head to me as he answered. "Everything is fine," he informed me. "I have been treated better than I had expected."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," I informed him. I had been slightly concerned that he might get some rough treatment from some of his guards since he and his buddies were the ones to come through and shoot up the place. Thankfully, either professionalism or the fact that he had helped us escape Chulak had prevented anything bad from happening.

"These attacks seem to just keep coming," I remarked. "Any idea when they'll let up a bit?"

"The attacks will persist until the goa'uld believe you destroyed," Teal'c replied. "It may take some time. They will send scouts to confirm your destruction or inspect what damage has been done. Eventually, they will realize your defenses are impenetrable."

"Makes me wonder how many lives they'll throw away before they think to stop," I remarked. "They've been at it for awhile now. It's making some folks nervous that they might never stop and what that'll imply."

_'Like how little regard for life the goa'uld have and how many waves of bodies they can throw at us if they think it'll get them victory in the end,'_ I thought, morbidly.

"My guards have expressed similar anxiety, though not with words," Teal'c mentioned. "I have seen how others react when the alarms go off. How they look at me as well."

"That'll pass," I assured him. "They're just a bit afraid because all this, including you, is so new to them. They'll get over it in time."

"Why is it you are not afraid?" Teal'c asked with only a hint of curiosity.

"Teal'c," I began. "I saw you stand up to your god. You turned against those armed jaffa and saved a room full of innocent people with no thought of yourself. I was there to see you stand in the room when everyone else had run. You had made that choice and had no idea what you were going to do after. You just couldn't stand to go along with what you knew to be wrong. Right then, I knew everything I really needed to know about you. It's why I wanted you to come with us."

Teal'c didn't respond verbally but nodded slowly at my words in what I interpreted as gratitude.

"Now on that note…" I began, picking up my notebook and opening it to where we left off. "I've come up with a few other questions to ask you."

"I shall endeavor to answer them to the best of my ability," Teal'c replied. "But is there not another such interview later today?"

"Yeah, with some guy from military intelligence," I confirmed dismissively. "He's more than likely going to be like one of those guys that I warned you about when we first started having these chats, remember? Anyway, this," I held up my notebook. "Is so we can hopefully prevent him from doing something foolish. You'll do a lot more good here with us than repeating answers to the same inane questions in a dark room for the next couple of years."

Teal'c nodded more gravely at this. He had inquired at our first meeting why anyone would take him away to just answer questions instead of fight. I had provided as much of an explanation as I could for the guy since it seemed that the goa'uld had no equivalent to our intelligence services or at least ones that operated in a similar way. That had actually been a part of the questioning during our session and had filled up an entire page all on its own.

The way he described it, there were spymasters appointed by powerful goa'uld who maintained control over a certain number of agents whether they were human, jaffa or goa'uld. 'Agents' itself might have been a generous term in most cases since they usually amounted to paid informants and were suspect in both their training and their loyalties. Hardly a professional clandestine service but I suppose it'd worked well enough for them in the past.

In any case, my plan seemed to be progressing well. Teal'c wasn't going to have an opportunity to prove himself by preventing a goa'uld by escaping with one of our people. So, I had to build a bit of a paper trail to justify keeping him here rather than allow him to get hauled off. I had already brought Carter and Daniel in on this and had gotten their specialized input on areas Teal'c could help with. Daniel had gotten a few cultural questions in there while Carter had been quick to ask about any technical knowledge Teal'c might have.

Of course, I had been directing the flow of conversation towards certain bits of information that would be good to 'know' right away. By doing so, I was hoping I might further my own plans to build up Earth and the SGC to tackle the threats that waited for us out there.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"-knowledge of goa'uld magic is forbidden."

"It's not magic, Teal'c," I interjected as I finished climbing the stairs. "They just want you to think it is."

Hammond, Colonel Kennedy and his assistant taking notes, who I noticed was a blonde female lieutenant with a very severe look to her appearance, all turned to look at me as I walked forward.

"Permission to barge in, sir?" I asked General Hammond, who nodded and gestured me towards a seat.

Before I could reach it, Kennedy stepped in front of me. "Colonel MacDuff, I take it?" he asked, seemingly already well aware of who I was. "I was hoping to meet you. I have to say; your mission report of the mission to Chulak has made for some of the most interesting analyses of my career." He held out his hand and I took it and gave it a brief shake before letting go.

"Yes, it was quite the adventure," I agreed. "The villain was a little over the top and could have probably done with a little more fleshing out. However, I think the main cast pulled off a fine performance all around."

Kennedy looked a bit unsure how to respond to that when Hammond interrupted. "Perhaps we could continue?" he pointedly asked.

"It's the damndest thing, general," I replied, still looking at Kennedy. "I know I told Teal'c all about how an individual's rights are respected in this country and how much we appreciated what he did for us."

"I can assure you colonel, there is nothing untoward taking place here," Kennedy told me. "You are welcome to join us if you'd like to make sure of that yourself."

Kennedy gestured me forward to an empty chair beside Hammond. "Thank you, I will," I replied as I took a seat. I waved to Teal'c, who nodded back at me in greeting. While easing myself into my chair, I glanced at the notes the lieutenant across from me was taking and frowned when I noticed a small error.

"There's actually an apostrophe between the 'L' and the 'C,'" I informed her. "T-E-A-L-apostrophe-C."

"Colonel," Hammond said in a warning tone, clearly wishing to get this interview back on track.

"Yes sir," I replied, sitting in my seat. I hid a smirk as I noticed the lieutenant crossing out the name she had written previously and jotting down the version with the apostrophe as I had suggested. I idly wondered if that was even technically the correct spelling for Teal'c's name or if O'Neill had just made that up the first time around.

I snapped out of that line of thought as Kennedy asked his next question.

"Very well, Teal'c," Kennedy continued. "What can you tell us about the goa'uld?"

"They rule by force," Teal'c answered. "Their numbers are few compared to those they rule over, but they have only seemed to grow over the years."

"How many worlds do they control?" Kennedy asked.

"Many hundreds. Possibly more."

"And should we expect to encounter these goa'uld everywhere we go?" Kennedy continued, pacing around the conference table.

"It is possible. But there are many more worlds that the goa'uld have no use for. On those worlds, the people are abandoned and left to fend for themselves."

"Is there any sort of leadership or government with which we could negotiate a peace?"

"Some, like Apophis, are great kings and rule over many worlds and do so as their gods. But they have no need for peace. If they could kill you, they would," Teal'c informed him gravely.

"Could they?" Kennedy asked next. "They have spacecraft."

"Yes," Teal'c replied. "But it would take many months, perhaps years to assemble the forces necessary. Many ships and slave armies would be required."

"We haven't become that big of a nuisance, just yet," I noted. "Right now, our greatest advantage is our anonymity."

Kennedy nodded. "These slaves…where do they come from?"

"There is a tale of a primitive world that the goa'uld discovered millennia ago," Teal'c began. "The Tau'ri. The first world where forms of this type evolved naturally. It is said that the goa'uld harvested among the primitive populations. Some became hosts. Some became jaffa. Others became slaves and were seeded throughout the galaxy to provide for their goa'uld masters. That world has since been lost to the goa'uld."

"Before its discovery," he continued. "Hosts for the goa'uld were said to not be nearly so abundant. Other life forms were not as easy to control as ours is. Over time, most goa'uld abandoned non-human hosts. Now, nearly all slaves and hosts are human. As are all jaffa."

I certainly didn't recall that last bit from the original briefing. Simple forgetfulness on my part or maybe some kind of butterfly effect from my own prior conversations with Teal'c? Maybe a consequence of living in reality instead of watching a TV show? It's not like the show paid much attention to _every_ little detail.

In any case, that was an interesting piece of information and matched up with what I already suspected of the goa'uld from my own thoughts on the show. Perhaps Teal'c just meant the Unas or maybe some other species that had fallen prey to the goa'uld over the millennia but weren't as useful and were therefore disposed of?

"Teal'c," Kennedy continued. "Beings of this form evolved here, on Earth."

Teal'c looked taken aback by this information. Showing more emotion than he had showed thus far in the briefing, he looked back at Kennedy, then to Hammond and then me. He seemed to be looking for any signs of deception as he looked into our eyes.

"This world…" Teal'c trailed off in a slightly awed tone.

"This world, Earth, was the homeworld for humanity," I told Teal'c, confirming it for him. "Ra came _here_. Our ancestors managed to drive the goa'uld off millennia ago and buried the stargate."

"And because of that," Teal'c intoned. "You have now become strong enough to fight them."

"Then the galaxy is populated by the ancient peoples of Earth," Kennedy said thoughtfully.

"There could be billions of them by now," Hammond commented.

"And you may just be their greatest hope," Teal'c informed us, now looking at Kennedy before turning to me. "And mine."

The briefing continued for another hour before Kennedy had the guards take Teal'c back to his cell. He informed Hammond that he had a few calls to make and would be speaking with him again shortly.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Without the drama caused by Kawalsky being taken as a host, events seemed to move a bit more slowly than I remembered. A little over three hours later, I was called to the briefing room by General Hammond. Apparently, Kennedy wanted to sound out a proposal and wanted our approval in order to make it happen. Since Teal'c's interview broke up, I had kept a discrete eye on Kennedy as much as I was able. Because of this, I knew that he had spoken with Dr. Warner down in the infirmary.

Warner had been the doctor who had done a medical assessment of Teal'c upon his arrival. He was a good man and I remembered that he was the doctor who would have conducted the surgery on Kawalsky if he had been infested like in the original timeline. He would also be attending the meeting Kennedy had called. I had also decided to bring along Carter and Daniel to have their own opinions as experts on hand in case it was needed. Kennedy had also brought his quiet aide to the meeting with him, but I don't expect her to be offering any input.

Hammond entered the briefing room and all of the military members present rose to their feet while Dr. Warner and Daniel followed awkwardly a moment later.

"At ease," Hammond called out. Hammond continued as we all took our seats. "Colonel Kennedy has a recommendation he'd like to make in regards to the future of Teal'c. He'd like to make his proposal and hear our opinions on the matter. Colonel?"

Kennedy began his pitch. "I have completed my initial interview and background check on the status of Teal'c as our prisoner. I believe I speak for all those present when I say we are grateful that he has chosen to assist our people and return to Earth to provide us with information on this new enemy we face. However, I think it would be irresponsible of us to not consider the potential gains we could make other than by whatever limited information he may provide to us."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Daniel asked, confused by where Kennedy was going with this.

"Instead of considering that we have only one prisoner," Kennedy continued. "Perhaps we should consider the enormous opportunity presented to us? The symbiote within him can be our best chance to negotiate a peace with this enemy."

"Excuse you, colonel?" I interjected, keeping most of the anger I was feeling out of my tone with a considerable amount of effort. "Are you forgetting that that symbiote is not only an immature larva, but what's keeping Teal'c alive? Seems a poor way to repay him for all he's done by putting his trust in us, wouldn't you think?"

Everyone at the table seemed to be getting angry at not only the line of questioning, but where the questioning was heading. Kennedy seemed to ignore my questions and the worsening expressions on the other people at the table and turned to Dr. Warner.

"Dr. Warner," Kennedy addressed the doctor. "Haven't you already made some preliminary studies of Teal'c and his symbiote?"

"Yes," the doctor answered slowly. "My medical team and I have already made a preliminary assessment of Mr. Teal'c to determine any biological or genetic differences that he and his people may have from us and if we ever had to render medical treatment."

"And didn't you also determine that this symbiote carries with it all of the knowledge of the goa'uld?" Kennedy asked. "I believe I read that in your reports."

"As best as we can determine and by going with the information Mr. Teal'c provided us, yes," Dr. Warner allowed.

"Genetic memory," Daniel remarked. "That's amazing."

"Yes, it is," Kennedy agreed. "It also means that we have more than one prisoner to consider here. Dr. Warner, have you made any progress on studying the symbiote Teal'c carries?"

"We made a few preliminary tests with the assistance of Mr. Teal'c, yes," Warner agreed. "We acquired a DNA sample and basic x-rays of the creature and learned a bit more by asking Mr. Teal'c."

"So you already have substantial medical knowledge of Teal'c," Kennedy said, seemingly drawing a rather exaggerated conclusion from the doctor's words, but not allowing the doctor to interrupt him. "Perhaps enough that we could devise a working solution to his dependence on the symbiote. Perhaps, if we act quickly, we could send the creature back through the stargate as a gesture of good will."

"And what about the symbiote requiring a host to survive? Or even communicate?" I asked in a now deceptively light tone. Kennedy was digging his own grave here, even if he didn't know it. It didn't hurt that Kennedy was clearly trying to push his own agenda at this meeting and had no allies or sycophants here to agree with whatever he was saying.

"That we know so little about these creatures and are without a means to communicate with them is a serious concern," Kennedy agreed, seemingly with only himself when he spoke. "Perhaps a volunteer could be found to carry a message or even allow themselves to become a temporary host for-"

That was when Hammond decided that we had heard enough of this crap.

"Exactly what kind of officer are you, colonel?!" Hammond exploded.

Kennedy looked taken aback at that reaction. "S-sir?" he stuttered.

"I'm not about to let you kill a man in order to curry favor with our enemy! And I'm certainly not going to let you place one of our people's lives at risk in such a reckless endeavor!" Hammond tore into the man. "In case you hadn't noticed colonel, these beings have taken it upon themselves to kick down our door, kill our people and take what they please! God knows how many other times they've done the same to people who were unable to defend themselves in the slightest!"

"With respect general, I feel like I should take this proposal to my superiors," Kennedy responded stubbornly.

Hammond let out a short laugh at that. "Sure, colonel. You go right ahead and do that. As for me, I have no intention of letting you kill this man and I'll be damned if I let you take him anywhere when you've made it damn clear you don't have his best interests in mind!" Hammond slammed his fist on the briefing room table as he stood up.

"Dismissed," he barked as he stormed back into his office.

Carter and I stood as the general did and Daniel and Warner followed us up a moment later. Kennedy remained seated and just glared at the tabletop as the rest of us filed out.

I didn't bother to keep the smirk off my face as I exited. I had the feeling that Kennedy would dig his own grave here, but I had no idea that he'd make it so easy for me to ensure I got my way. I just had to hand him enough rope to hang himself with and he handled the rest.

Or rather, I should say that _Hammond_ would handle the rest. I knew that he was a good man at heart and I just needed to put this situation into the right context to make it easier for him to intervene. Kennedy's obvious appeasement agenda and questionable morals in regard to the life of Teal'c made it obvious to Hammond that action was needed to save the man's life. Doubtless, he was dialing either the Joint Chiefs or probably even the red phone right now to ask the president to weigh in on this issue.

I informed Carter and Daniel that I would see them at lunch before walking off. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long to get word from Hammond that Teal'c would be staying.

**~SG-WOLF~**

As it turned out, it didn't take more than a day for the word to come down and a special phone call to seal the deal.

"Absolutely. That's good to hear," Hammond said into his red phone.

I was standing against the wall and beside his desk, all set in my mission gear. Colonel Kennedy stood in front of it, looking rather dejected about what was happening and clearly trying to avoid glaring at the downright cheerful tone Hammond was using with the man on the other side of the line.

"Oh, any time, sir! You just drop on by and we'd be glad to have you!" Hammond continued, amicably. There was a pause. "Well sir, he's standing right here. You're welcome to tell him yourself."

Hammond handed over the phone to a very upset looking Colonel Kennedy. Hammond stood up and gestured me out of his office while Kennedy held the phone to his ear and got the bad news from the big man himself.

"Yes, Mr. President."

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daniel and Carter were chatting at the base of the ramp to the stargate and giving their gear one last check before the mission. Hammond was with me going over some of the last-minute details for the mission when the blast door opened and our last teammate arrived.

Teal'c entered the Gate Room through the entrance beside us. He was now wearing the olive-green uniform that was standard for SG teams with the black tactical vest and belt that held all of his equipment for the mission. What wasn't standard was the staff weapon he carried in place of any of the standard ordinance found in the armory here. There had been a few ruffled feathers when Teal'c requested it, but I had managed to make it happen since we already had a couple of staff weapons to study on hand and at Area 51. The labs could certainly spare one for Teal'c's use.

He stood before the two of us, looking tall and imposing. "Reporting as ordered," he said.

"Sir," I stage whispered to Teal'c.

"Sir," Teal'c corrected himself.

"Welcome aboard, son," Hammond replied.

Hammond gave a small smile as he gestured Teal'c towards the ramp and the rest of SG-Wolf. Teal'c nodded as he and I walked over to Carter and Daniel at the base of the ramp, who both greeted us as we joined them.

"The refugees we sent here reported favorable conditions," Carter informed us. "And the MALP telemetry confirmed it."

"Excellent," I replied. "Let's get going."

All four members of SG-Wolf embarked up the ramp to the stargate together. At last, I felt we were ready for whatever challenge lay in front of us.

**AN: It was harder than I thought it would be to get this chapter out. I knew not much would be going on since Kawalsky wasn't going to be taken as a host, so I had to come up with something new to flesh out the transition from pilot to series proper. **

**I figured that it was time for my OC to push for certain changes to happen. Redesigning the Gate Room was a big one for me, but I also felt inspired with the Hearts & Minds proposal. We see a whole lot of agrarian societies in the Stargate show and there are definitely a lot of ways outreach programs can render assistance. Groups like Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross help and teach people in parts of the world more or less as well off as some of these planets we see. The US military runs numerous public outreach programs to help out less developed nations in a dozen small ways through visiting ships, units or bases.**

**As always, I'm happy to hear your opinions and read your reviews! Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 12: I Won't Stand For Stupid Adventures

Things started out relatively slow but soon enough, everything seemed to fall into a state of relative normality. More personnel arrived at the base to fill out our teams and plenty of new equipment came with them to update the older stuff and meet the requirements we had for our new mission.

Freeman had also arrived during this time. He had been recalled from his assignment overseas and had been damn excited to rejoin us at Cheyanne Mountain. With him had come the one and only Dr. Janet Frasier, who would be taking over as the base's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Warner had gone back to working at the Air Force Hospital at Peterson. Technically a promotion for the man, he would be coordinating medical care with us using the more extensive facilities and equipment there.

Instead of being a civilian physician contracted with the military like Warner, Frasier was a commissioned officer with the Air Force, meaning she held captain's bars in addition to her medical training. Just a few scratches over five feet tall, she was a fiery little redhead with a personality to match. She also came with a stellar record Meeting her had been expected, but an unexpected pleasure once it actually happened.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"I thought I'd come by and welcome you to the SGC, doctor," I said as I shook her hand.

"Colonel MacDuff, I presume?" she asked rhetorically. She started marking something down on the clipboard she was holding. "You're early. I didn't expect to see you until later."

"I've got a fairly busy schedule these days," I replied. "I'm always bouncing between the SG teams and several different departments. So, I figured I'd come down and make sure you were settling in alright."

"Thus far, I've got a number of things on my plate I need to take care of," Frasier informed me. "One of them is you, actually. Dr. Warner didn't get around to completely updating your medical file before heading to Peterson." Frasier stepped over to one of the curtained beds and pulled aside to reveal an empty bed.

"Take a seat," she told me.

"Right now?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes, right now," Frasier responded firmly. "You should have had a medical evaluation before returning to active duty. However, nobody has seen fit to so much as update your bloodwork before allowing you off world. So, take a seat and show me your arm."

"Yes ma'am," I responded bemusedly.

I sat down and complied as Frasier drew a blood sample and took some basic medical information from me. We chatted a bit more about her new posting before I departed the Infirmary. I was sure she'd fit in just fine around here.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Speaking of medical care, Brown had recovered from his injuries and had been placed on SG-Bull in order to allow for some of the new teams to have someone with experience with them. Ferretti is slated to join SG-Raven once he finished his own recovery. That staff blast had caused a lot of damage when it hit him and his physical therapy hadn't finished yet. He was lucky that he was even coming back to active duty with injuries so severe.

We had also finally received our shipment of .45 caliber sidearms and ammunition. Someone had really done us a favor when we requested heavier caliber sidearms for our command. Much to my and the armorer's delight, they were all M1911A1 variants. Sleek, tactical, black finish with a brown grip and in terrific condition; they had enough power to punch right through a jaffa's armor at close and medium range and still retain enough stopping power to put them down and keep them there.

Ever since the military had switched over to the M9's and their smaller 9mm ammunition, the special forces community and a lot of government agencies had been dissatisfied with the reduction in stopping power. Still adamant about switching to the M9, the Joint Chiefs had reached a compromise where certain agencies were allowed to retain some of their .45's and special forces groups would be allowed to carry the A1 variant instead. The shipment we got came from a stock that had been sitting in a stockpile since they were manufactured and delivered in the 80's. While they were definitely a bit old, they worked perfectly and were in excellent condition.

Off world exploration and reconnaissance missions were starting well for the fledgling SGC. Apart from the occasional encounter with weird wildlife and settling on new training and procedures for base personnel, things were relatively quiet. Of course, that quiet period couldn't last forever. SG-Wolf's next mission was a reminder of that.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We had just saved this kid's life from some wild dogs when three riders came over the hill and pointed weapons at us once they realized that Carter was a woman. I decided to warn them off by firing my sidearm into the air once to catch them off guard with the noise. Like I thought, the noise startled them and their horses pretty badly since they had likely never seen anything like a gun before. The apparent leader of the three looked like he wanted to try something but backed down pretty quick by all of us brandishing our own weapons at them.

Another man then rode over the hill. He wore a more elaborate set of clothes than the others and everyone, even the kid, seemed to defer to him once he rode up to us. The boy and the new man spoke for a moment and we learned that the new guy was a chieftain and the boy was his son. For a moment, it looked like the situation would settle, until Carter answered a question the chieftain seemed to direct at us.

"She speaks?!" the man barked in surprise and anger. "She dies!"

"No!" the kid cried out. "She saved my life!"

There was another standoff between us and the locals as the three men tried to advance on us again, only to back down when we pointed our weapons at them again. I was beginning to see a pattern.

Thankfully, this didn't turn into a massacre. The chieftain held out his arm, gesturing for the others to stand down as he seemed to come to a decision.

"If a woman saves a life," the older man began slowly. "Hers cannot be taken. You will be welcome in our camp as my guests. But if you are to travel in our lands, you will have to learn our ways."

"I'm thinking we should just quit while we're ahead," Carter quietly remarked to the rest of us.

"If we agree to obey their laws, we should be fine," Daniel offered. "It is an incredible opportunity to study an ancient culture up close."

Hell. No.

Daniel might be excited but I am not putting up with this crap. The original episode was dumb enough. No way I'm letting one of these Mongol knockoffs mistreat and kidnap Carter just for some plant that might be useful later.

"Well, we'd be honored to join you," I began. "However, I'd like a moment to speak with my teammates if that is alright with you."

The chieftain nodded as I stepped back with the rest of my team. "Alright," I started. "I'm thinking we all head back to Earth now and agree to come back later and join them at their camp."

"I agree that we hit a bit of a cultural wall here, but is leaving the best option?" Daniel asked. "They still seem willing to invite us to their camp, so they're friendly at least."

"I do think leaving is the better option," I responded. "I don't appreciate how they were willing to pull out weapons just because they saw Carter. I'm not risking her life for the chance to study a plainly hostile culture. If one of these guys gets upset _again_ and tries to kill Carter or one of us for looking them in the eye or something, it'll lead to a bloody shootout. I'd think you'd prefer it if we didn't decimate the culture you want to study."

Daniel mulled that over a bit unhappily but agreed. Carter was agreeable if only because she seemed to appreciate the sentiment of not getting stabbed or something by one of these guys. Teal'c was largely indifferent and stood there stoically but I was certain he'd just follow my lead, whatever it was.

"That's why I'm thinking of all of us heading back and bringing along some of the other cultural specialists instead," I continued. "We're heading into potentially dangerous territory here and they've made it clear that they have some serious hang-ups with women. We're not here to change their minds or instigate a suffrage movement; we're here to explore and say hi to the locals. I'm not looking for one of us to get stabbed. So, let's take a raincheck on that welcome party and get going."

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daniel and I went back with SG-Bull a few hours later and were treated to a meal at the nearby camp. They were all very polite to us and curious about who we were and where we came from. The chieftain even asked us why we had a woman with us when we had first met, which had then been explained politely to a number of disbelieving elders. The concept of warrior women was apparently as strange as anything they had ever heard.

Fortunately, the chief's generosity had yielded us a number of samples of the special plant that they had. Carter had been right when she suggested that it could probably be replicated for our own use and the base's biology department was very excited in how the plant could be used to increase the effectiveness of several kinds of painkillers. As far as I was concerned, we avoided a seriously annoying adventure.

Things had been quiet for a few days after that. We had then been called into a briefing since the intel guys had worked out what the most probable gate addresses were for where we think Apophis went when he left Chulak. The list had been extrapolated by cross-referencing the three symbols we were certain were used in the address with the list we acquired on Abydos. This was one of the four addresses that we were able to determine were possible destinations and the most likely candidate was the one we had tried first.

Just like in the canon universe, the MALP showed only darkness on the other side, so we would be bringing along the marines of SG-Bear for backup. Things went pretty much as they did originally. We got jumped by a bunch of Neanderthals who were then scared off by the marine's weapons fire. We encountered the locals and got the gist of the 'Land of Light' and the 'Land of Darkness' from them. No sign of Sha're, Skaara or of any goa'uld presence whatsoever. The planet and its people had been left alone for decades by the sound of it.

Interestingly enough, the reason the area around the stargate was in perpetual darkness was because of the forest. The trees were massive redwoods. It must've taken centuries or a millennia to achieve this kind of growth, but the trees were so tall and old, the branches created a canopy that blocked out almost all of the sunlight, even at midday.

There was no telling how many miles the forest extended, but I made a note in my report to General Hammond that we might want to look into making a deal with the locals if they were interested in clearing the land for their own use. With their level of technology, cutting down one of those beasts to clear land must be very labor intensive and slow. With our technology, we could speed up the process considerably.

And since redwoods were so valued on Earth, an arrangement where we received some of the wood or even a few saplings as payment for cutting it down would certainly benefit both parties. Ancient redwoods were protected on Earth, but here they were absurdly common. It also didn't hurt that they were amazingly fire resistant and terrific at capturing CO2. The biology department was once again singing the praises of SG-Wolf once they received a copy of our report. They seemed to be thrilled at the possibility of examining alien super trees.

Of course, that was when it all started to go to shit.

Sgt. Parks flipping out at the debriefing and attacking Teal'c was the first indication that we had brought something back that our decontamination process didn't catch. Then, the other marines began to show unusual signs of aggression, even for marines. When another attack took place between the other two marines on SG-Bear, Frasier wasted no time in declaring a medical emergency and locking down the mountain.

At this point, I had done my best to just allow events to play out as they did originally since this would be an important lesson for us all in how we operated. Today, it was a virus that we'd be able to cure in a day or so. Tomorrow, it might be a zombie virus or the next Black Death that wiped out a third of the whole planet's population. Since I knew this virus would be fairly harmless as far as these things go, I had very few reservations against just letting it run its course.

Besides, even if I wanted to stop it, I only knew that something regarding Daniel's allergies would serve as the clue that led to a cure. Teal'c's symbiote protected him, but I couldn't remember anything about what the resolution was other than Frasier getting a look at a blood sample from the locals of that planet. Little else to do at this point except wait for events to play out.

However, two particularly interesting things happened while the virus was running through the mountain. The first was that I had completely forgotten that Carter would show symptoms before me. The second was while I was in lockup after beginning to show symptoms myself…

**~SG-WOLF~**

I was in the locker room. I'd just finished showering and was getting my boots back on when Carter rounded the corner. She was wearing only her workout shorts and a very short tank top. She was also leaning against the lockers while giving me a look that might be conservatively called, 'steamy.'

Uh oh.

"Hey Carter," I said cautiously. "Something up?"

While I might be flattered under most other circumstances, I was recalling this little scene from the original episode. Carter was showing symptoms of the virus and was about to uh, 'attack' me. She was my teammate and even putting aside the violation of military regulations in regards to professional conduct; I doubted either of us would forgive me if I took advantage of the situation.

While certainly flattering, this was actually a rather serious problem. Carter stalked forward and I quickly stood up off of the bench between the lockers. I had a height and strength advantage over Carter, but I knew full well that she was a hand-to-hand expert and entirely capable of putting a man twice her size on his ass.

"You need something?" I asked, hoping against hope that I could snap her out of it.

Carter didn't respond verbally. I tried putting an arm up as she got closer, but she quickly swept it aside, pushing me against the locker fairly hard and knocking the wind out of me. Before I could move out of the way, she grabbed my head and pulled me into a kiss.

"I want you," she said shortly as she pulled me into another kiss.

"Shouldn't you take me out for coffee first?" I tried to reply, but it came out as more of a mumble since Carter wasn't letting go.

She pulled me forward and threw me onto the bench behind her as she pulled herself atop me and kept trying to kiss me.

"Carter, snap out of it!" I tried yelling in her face.

She ignored me and kept straddling me as she kissed me. As glad as I was that nobody was in the locker room right now to see this, I was really wishing that someone was in the locker room to see this and would come over and help me!

Deciding that force was necessary to resolve this, I quickly shot a jab at Carter's ribs. She grunted and loosened her grip on me, just like I'd hoped she would. I used her distraction to quickly roll her off of me and toss her to the floor. Not waiting for her to snap back up and retaliate, I rolled off the bench after her and quickly got her into a hold beneath me. Before she could get up, I had her arms pinned to her sides and had all my weight on top of her to keep her secure.

She struggled to get out from beneath me, even snapping her teeth at me and kicking her legs up to try and get enough leverage to get me off of her but my hold on her was too good.

"Sorry Carter," I said as she struggled and snapped to get out from beneath me. "But I think you've got an appointment in the Infirmary with Dr. Frasier."

**~SG-WOLF~**

It was an awkward walk but thankfully the Infirmary wasn't far from the locker room I was using. Dr. Frasier and some of her nurses were quick to help get her into some spare scrubs and strapped to a bed. Frasier had checked me over and declared me fine except for some nasty scratches Carter had given me. She told me to report back to the Infirmary immediately if I started showing any symptoms.

It was less than an hour later that I realized I was infected too. But my symptoms weren't quite what I expected…

**~SG-WOLF~**

I could feel myself steadily getting angrier and angrier at Daniel as we were talking. When I reached out and grabbed him, I knew for sure I was being affected by the virus. I reigned in my temper before I knocked his lights out and walked myself down to the Infirmary. Any hope I had that I wasn't also infected with the Neanderthal virus had gone out the window at that point. Frasier's test had only confirmed it.

I ended up in one of the isolation cells the medical staff had set up and was left feeling incredibly agitated. I had a good idea of what I had signed up for by letting events run their course here but now I was left dealing with the virus and the symptoms.

Apart from the definite increase in aggression, I felt like I was handling it pretty well so far. It was hard to think about what was going on, but I knew from my memories of the original episode and by seeing the other infected that I wasn't reacting as badly as I probably should be. More than that, it was hard to say because I could feel myself

For that matter, when Frasier came along awhile later, I was coherent enough to hear her apologize that my private cell had just become a double. General Hammond was led into the room and sat onto the cot across from me. He had been given a straight jacket and was clearly under heavy sedation with how vacant his expression was and how easily he was led into the cell.

Frasier was commenting aloud about how they were having to convert storage rooms with all the infected personnel we now had. I don't think she actually expected me to answer her given how she jumped when I spoke aloud in response.

"Find a cure yet?" I ground out from my spot in the opposite corner of the cell. It was difficult to focus on speaking, but I managed to get the words out, if in a grating tone.

Frasier was clearly shocked at me speaking. "Colonel?" she hesitantly asked. "You can understand me?"

"Yes," I growled out.

"This is incredible," she remarked. She came over to where I was and knelt down in front of me just inside of arm's reach to start looking me over. "None of the other patients even seem to understand us speaking to them unless we do so slowly and speak directly to them. Even then, we don't get this coherent of a response."

"Hurts," I grunted to her. "Need more."

"More?" Frasier asked, confused. "More what? More sedative?"

I nodded. "Colonel," she began. "I'm uncertain what's allowing you to maintain more of your mental faculties but I'm also not sure what adding more sedatives could do to you. It could possibly do more harm than good."

"More, doctor," I insisted, now holding out my arm to her. I could feel the urge to strike her as I held out my arm, but kept it reigned in. The guards behind her tensed at my sudden movement, but relaxed once they realized I wasn't attacking her. To Frasier's credit, she didn't even flinch.

Frasier looked to be struggling with herself before sighing and reaching into her coat pocket. Withdrawing a syringe, she uncapped it and gave me a decently sized dose of whatever it was. Moments later, I let out a sigh of relief as I felt it taking effect. It helped a lot to reduce the general discomfort I was feeling and helped clear up my mind by quite a bit.

"You must have been in quite a bit of pain," Frasier remarked quietly as she saw me visibly relax.

"Easier to think like this," I replied, the words coming to me much more easily than before, though my tone was still clipped and a bit rough. At least I didn't want to hit her so much anymore.

"It's clearly improved your overall disposition," Frasier commented, examining me as I relaxed and my speech cleared up a bit from a growling tone to just a rather gruff one.

"You make any progress on a cure?" I asked.

"Not much," Frasier informed me. "Before he began showing symptoms, General Hammond sent Teal'c and Daniel back to P3X-797 to speak with the locals. If I can get a blood sample from one of the non-infected, I should have enough to isolate the necessary components for a cure."

"Anyone dead?" I asked next.

"Not yet," Frasier replied. "But with how combative most of the infected are getting coupled with how we're going to have to start doubling up accommodations, we're going to get a lot more fights. I'm worried I won't have enough non-infected personnel to prevent serious injury or deaths in the future."

"You'll figure this out," I assured her. "When you come up with something, I'll be your first test subject."

"What?" Frasier asked, shaking her head. "Colonel, that's unethical! I can't use you like a lab rat!"

"You will," I informed her, becoming a bit agitated again but forcing the words out. "Because I'm telling you to. I'm probably your only patient that can give consent, so you now have it."

"Colonel, I can't agree to that," Frasier persisted. She stopped talking as I held up my hand.

"Doctor," I interrupted her. "You'll get it. You'll figure this out. Just try to get it right the first time around. I'll be here when you do it."

Frasier didn't reply verbally. She just nodded.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Teal'c came by a short time later to tell me he had lost Daniel on the dark side of the planet. After that, he had sat with me in the cell and kept me company while we waited. That was good of him and I appreciated it. Even if it was mostly just us sitting in silence as he meditated.

We didn't have to wait long as Frasier came back a short while later with an explanation and the cure. Events played out pretty much the same as last time from there going forward. The cure worked fine and we headed back to the dark side of the planet loaded up with tranquilizer guns to get back Daniel and distribute the cure to the infected or 'touched' as they were referred to by the locals.

Speaking of the locals, they were exceptionally grateful for our efforts. We hauled Daniel back to their settlement while we waited for the cure to take effect. He served as a great example to them that we knew what we were talking about. This was only multiplied when a few dozen of the 'touched' came stumbling out of the woods and enthusiastically greeted their long-lost loved ones. The locals seemed to still think of us as some sort of 'divine figures' despite our best efforts to tell them otherwise. Hopefully, it would sink in with them at some point in the future.

What I was more interested in was my apparent resistance to the virus compared to everyone else. I had somehow managed to retain most of my mental faculties while infected. I didn't have a natural immunity to the virus like Daniel or Teal'c but I had a great deal of resistance to the symptoms once I became ill. O'Neill certainly hadn't been that resistant, even when pumped full of sedatives.

Was it that I just happened to be naturally more resistant? Was I able to fight off the effects better because I knew what was happening and was better able to resist it? I was inclined to believe this was some part of the benefits the Man had mentioned during my recruitment. An 'enticement' if I remembered correctly.

But disease resistance? I mean, it was a useful ability but was that it? It wasn't exactly super strength or speed. Part of a larger ability maybe? I had stayed in good shape since I arrived in this reality and ever since the first Abydos mission. I hadn't thought too deeply on it but I really was in terrific shape. I wasn't a super soldier but I was certainly performing at a level well above what I thought of as 'fit.' I was keeping up with career special forces soldiers and even performing better than them in certain instances.

Until now, I thought I had just forgotten what it was like to be this young and fit. When you get old enough and start losing some of your physical prowess, some young people just seemed outrageously capable to you in comparison. But now, I wasn't so sure anymore. Was my new body more than what it seemed on the surface? Had I just not been looking into it since the changes weren't obvious? This would take some testing and maybe some research on my part. Once I get back, I'd have to think up some experiments I could run without drawing too much if any attention to myself.

These thoughts kept my mind occupied the whole way back to the stargate.

**AN: I've been jumping a lot between chapters to get things written as they come to me. You guys will be getting smaller chapters like this until we reach the real big story arcs. Coming up, we've got the Nox, Thor's Hammer, and Torment of Tantalus where we'll be seeing some real changes starting to hit. I've had the altered version of Torment written for some time and will be glad to finally have it posted. I think you guys will really like it!**

**We'll also be skipping The First Commandment for now. I feel like it was a good concept, but a poor execution. I'll have a better version of that story happening later on.**

**I've also been getting a number of reviews and messages saying that people are disappointed with the lack of change so far in the story. I'd like to clarify for people that my OC isn't the God Emperor of Stargate or trying to be. He's one dude currently filling in a role because it needed a replacement, so now he's trying to do the best he can to improve the situation as he sees it. And for some added context; we're only past the first few episodes of the series. Greater changes are coming, but we've only just starting here. I'm not going to rush through the buildup just to reach the good parts later on. We're world building here, guys! Just bear with me! It's still the early days! Original story arcs, characters and events are coming!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 13: Meeting the Nox, Part One

"You better hang onto something, Mr. Secretary," General Hammond informed the man. "This is how we open the front door around here."

I give a light chuckle as the Secretary of Defense, a man I've never heard of by the name of Peter Heller, stood in open mouthed awe as the stargate opened. He maintained that awed look as he asked what it was he was seeing and Carter stepped forward to offer a simplified explanation of what he was seeing. Of course, the SECDEF was no science enthusiast and even a 'simplified' explanation from Carter was still pretty wordy. The secretary nodded along as he kept his eyes fixed on the MALP as it went through the gate and sent back telemetry.

"SG-Lion, the light is green. You are cleared for standard reconnaissance," Sgt. Harriman called over the intercom from the Control Room.

We all had on our dress uniforms for the visiting Secretary of Defense. He had notified Hammond of his interest in paying a visit to the mountain, so we had about two weeks notice to polish, scrub and sweep every nook and cranny beneath Cheyanne Mountain. The base personnel weren't grumbling too much about the visit and seemed to actually take a great deal of pride in showing off to the man of the hour once he showed up. Everyone from the guys serving chow in the mess hall to the SG team members knew this was an incredibly prestigious command to be stationed at. We were making history here and pushing the bounds of human knowledge and experience every day around here. I certainly understood the pride they had while working here, even if it was far too classified to talk to anyone else about.

Everyone was looking their best today. I felt a smidgen of pride for all the people under my command who had bust their butts to make this place look as amazing as possible for SECDEF's visit. I'd never been this high on the food chain before so I developed a whole new appreciation for the pride of seeing the people, _my_ people, at the mountain show off just how good they are. Everyone had played their roles well or had just been standing by to look good for the man in case he passed through their workspace. Even the civilians were all looking sharp.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, SG-Wolf was slated to tour guide duty for the day. Carter and I were in our full-dress uniforms with our Air Force Blue blazers, dress shoes and all of our personal decorations on display. Daniel had elected to wear a buttoned shirt, tie and jacket for the occasion while Teal'c was just in his typical BDUs. Unfortunately, he had no formal wear for the occasion and I doubted I was going to get permission to get him out of the mountain to buy formal civilian wear anytime soon. I doubted Teal'c would have appreciated the clothes anyway as he seemed to prefer the comfortable BDUs he had been given.

As SG-Lion, a team composed of Marines I had poached from 1st Recon, began walking up the ramp, the Secretary kept asking us questions.

"Do we know where they're going?" Heller asked.

"The planet's designation is P3C-117," Hammond answered, gesturing over to the rudimentary star map at the back of the Control Room.

"And do you have _any_ idea what's out there?" Heller asked as he followed the general over to the map.

"No sir," I answered. "But that's exactly why we're going."

"I don't know colonel, is it?" the Secretary asked. "To be quite frank, the administration is not as satisfied with the recent level of progress the Stargate Program has been having of late. The President and the Joint Chiefs were under the impression that the SGC would be bringing back more advanced technologies like the gliders from Abydos."

I had to resist the strong temptation to roll my eyes. I had gotten wind of this conversation coming from Hammond before Heller showed up. Apparently, us bringing back the gliders had spoiled the expectations of senior military officials. They had been under the impression after that mission that the galaxy must be littered with advanced technologies that had just been left laying around for us to pick up and bring back. Never mind how absurd the notion was; the idiots were letting their greed get the best of them with these repeated and vague requests for the SGC to 'do more' and 'try harder' every time we returned from a mission without a shiny boondoggle to show off.

I had of course been drawn into the discussion at a certain point. As both Hammond's 2IC and as the leader of the flagship team, I was asked what more we could be doing to acquire advanced technology. I had of course pointed out the two gliders, the staff weapons, the remarkable plant life we'd recovered and asked; how much could we realistically expect to handle? We were still squeezing secrets out of the gliders and according to my latest update, we'd just started cracking the secrets of the crystal computers that ran the things and were making a lot of progress on analyzing the power generators aboard them.

With all of these amazing projects going on and the immeasurable advantage the stargate granted us in accelerating our own understanding of physics and the other sciences, I informed my superiors that we already had plenty on our plate for having had the gate operating for less than a year. I also reminded them of the sheer resources the stargate made available to us. Entire worlds with untapped resources consisting of every kind of metal, to oil, to even plain old farmland.

The SECDEF had apparently come on this tour representing the shortsighted faction among our leadership that was essentially asking; 'that's all nice but what can we get right now?'

"I'm sorry, I thought that we were explorers," Daniel remarked, coming out of his corner and joining the discussion.

"Yes, you are, Dr. Jackson. But even Marco Polo brought back more than a few exotic spices," Heller said.

'_I bring this man spaceships,'_ I think to myself. _'And he compares it to curry powder and ginger. Some people just refuse to be happy.' _

"Yes sir," I said, seemingly agreeing with his point although I knew full well what he really meant. "He brought back knowledge of distant lands. He paved the way for generations to follow after him and laid the groundwork for new trade lanes that brought incalculable wealth and knowledge to his own people and others. Unfortunately, while we've been lucky so far with the captured tech and other items we've picked up, the real big and important achievements will take time, like they did with him."

"So what you're saying is we're expecting too much from this program?" Heller asked.

I was about to say something with more than a little attitude and contempt in my tone when Carter beat me to it with a far more reasonable sounding response.

"Sir, with all due respect, this program may be humanity's most important endeavor," Sam said.

"That's what they said about the Apollo Program. And all they brought back were moon rocks," Heller replied. "You may have noticed we haven't been to the moon in over two decades?"

I really felt like punching this absolute fucking moron for how stupid that comment was.

"What kind of comparison is that?" I asked instead. "The Space Race kicked off a technological revolution that made most of the technology we use on a daily basis possible. It didn't happen overnight but we definitely achieved more than just bringing back rocks, sir."

"Colonel," the Secretary said. "If one of those goa'uld ships came at us right now, have you brought back one piece of technology that could fight them off? Never mind the gliders, since I understand they're now in so many pieces we could never feasibly hope to use them for what little good they might do against bigger ships."

"What technologies do you seek?" Teal'c asked. Having remained mostly silent since our tour began, we were all now paying attention to him since he had decided to speak.

"You tell me," the Secretary said. "What's out there?"

"There are technologies that even the goa'uld still seek," Teal'c informed us. "For example, there is a creature on an unpopulated world that possesses the power of invisibility."

"Invisibility?" Heller repeated, his expression now showing much more interest. "As in stealth?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "It is capable of disappearing and reappearing at will. I was once charged to capture this creature to learn its secrets. Apophis took the lives of two of my men as punishment for our failure to do so."

"If we could learn how it achieves that and figure out how to replicate it," Carter pondered aloud. "It could provide us with an incredible tactical advantage in future engagements."

"Sounds like a mission to me," I said, happy to put an end to this conversation.

What's more, I remembered exactly who was waiting for us on that planet. Even if I failed to change events much from the canon universe, this would still be a very important mission for us.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Since I had to finish a conversation with General Hammond before stepping through, I was the last to arrive on the other side of the gate if only a minute behind the others. We were all carrying our usual loadouts for this mission but were now also carrying dart guns. Our mission was to attempt to sedate one of the creatures and only kill it as a last resort. We also had a Field Robotic Expeditionary Device (F.R.E.D.) loaded with camping equipment and a few other gadgets that might come in handy. The idea was that we'd be here for a day or three hunting this creature, so we didn't want to be lacking any gear or supplies during that time.

As I stepped through to the other side, I noticed none of my team were around. Frowning, I unslung my MP5 and looked around. As the stargate deactivated, I turned around to check behind me and saw Carter jogging over and waving one arm to get my attention.

Trotting over to join her, I saw Teal'c and Daniel coming out of the tree line a short ways off.

"We thought we saw something just as we came through," Carter said.

"That's lucky. Teal'c, you bag us one already?" I asked as the two approached.

"There was certainly some movement near the trees," Teal'c answered. "This way."

"Sure as hell hope these tranq guns work as advertised," I said. "There's enough sedative in these things to take down a rhino."

Carter and Daniel were readying their own tranquilizer guns while Teal'c led the way, carrying his staff weapon. He still hasn't had much practice with Earth weaponry, so he elected to stick with what he knew for this trip.

"They are very large," Teal'c said as we made their way down a hill. "The creature is often visible when it hovers."

We reached a steep incline and I stopped with my team coming to a halt around me. I took out my binoculars and gave everything a quick overview but wasn't surprised when I didn't see anything.

"Well," I said. "Whatever it was, it's gone now."

I lowered my binoculars and was about to suggest going back for the rest of our gear when I felt…_something_ behind us. It was a feeling, like the one you get when you feel someone is looking at you or when your brain tells you something is happening but you can't hear or see it coming.

I quickly turned around only to find that the stargate and the FRED were missing. "Hey guys, where's the stargate?"

Everyone else turned around. I was keeping myself calm since I knew what was happening, but I could feel the undercurrent of shock and a little bit of fear hit us. Our ticket home as well as most of our stuff had just vanished without a trace. We quickly jogged back to where it was and found that there wasn't so much as a divot on the ground to indicate where it used to be. I stepped forward and stood in the spot I was fairly certain the gate was in a moment ago, but there was nothing now.

"It was there just a second ago," Carter said, coming over to join me. "Teal'c, has this ever happened to you before when you came here?"

"It has not," the jaffa said, looking around in surprise.

"Alright, let's not panic just yet. We'll start a search," I said. "We have a scheduled check-in in eight hours. Even if we can't find the gate by then, the SGC will dial in and call out to us on the radio. We can try homing in on the gate then. In the meantime; Carter, you and Teal'c take off in that direction," I pointed to the east. "Daniel, you and I will go the other way."

**~SG-WOLF~**

As we hiked through the forest, conversation between Daniel and I died off a bit as we both ran out of things to say for the moment. So, my thoughts wandered. I began to think back to my situation and some strange things I had started to notice.

First had been the Neanderthal virus incident. I had looked over the after-action reports and had discussed it with Dr. Frasier once the danger had passed. It turned out that I really was the only one to have that kind of reaction to the virus. Everyone else had been uncontrollably aggressive and completely incoherent once the virus had set in. I on the other hand, had been ridiculously aggressive and felt like I wanted to attack everyone I met but I was still in control. I could still talk and even think a bit without the meds. Once I had Frasier give me something to calm me down and to numb the discomfort I felt, I was practically just an irritable version of myself. Hell, I've had hangovers that had made me that ornery.

I had struggled at first with whether or not to make some kind of a report or to pursue a more detailed analysis through official channels. I wanted to trust that it would only help. I could get actual medical professionals to make an analysis of me. On the other hand, I knew that there were people and factions within the government that would definitely turn me into a science experiment and take me away from the SGC if they thought I could be of more use in a lab rather than working here. The NID came to mind and I have no doubt that an organization with such questionable morals wouldn't hesitate to carve me up like a turkey if given the chance.

I had ideas down the road to enhance myself with some of the technology and crazy encounters we'd face, so I knew word would get out sooner or later that I was enhanced to some degree if only because it'd be impossible to hide it once it happened. I had to establish myself firmly as the leader of SG-Wolf and as an indispensable member of the SGC before anyone got ideas. My hope was that I'd become too much of an asset and have earned too much favor with the right people to be allowed to be transferred to some secret lab for experimentation.

These arguments sounded reasonable to me but also, as arrogant as it sounded, I was needed here. The Man had selected me to replace Jack O'Neill on SG-1 and I couldn't deny the importance of that role. I may have the occasional critique of the man's words and/or actions, but there was no question that he was the right man in the right place. Earth likely wouldn't have survived the goa'uld or a half dozen of the other threats out there without him. It was going to be the challenge of a lifetime to match his achievements and not screw it up. I needed every advantage I could get.

Plus, a damn good plan to ensure I didn't screw this up and get everyone killed.

So, I had tried to figure out ways to test myself. I hadn't noticed anything superhuman about my physique that couldn't be attributed to just good genetics and a healthy lifestyle. In the time I had spent first on a vacation and then just living my life, nothing had seemed to stick out. So, I started testing for more subtle things and looking at things in ways I hadn't considered before.

It was time to put some of that old-school geek knowledge to work.

I didn't really have any way to test for special resistance to disease. At least, not in any way I wanted to try or that was safe or sanitary. I hadn't gotten anything worse than the sniffles either. I hadn't been knocked off my feet by any colds or the flu and I had no allergies or a history of illness according to my medical file. Seeing nowhere to go with that, I first tried the safest way available for me to poison myself; drinking.

I was never the biggest drinker outside of special occasions and I had never really looked into getting plastered since my new lease on life began. As corny as it sounded, I was too busy getting high on life. Just being young again was its own kind of drug after nearly dying from old age. Just not having joint pain anymore was its own kind of blessing. Any and all drinking I did was recreational and I was never really keeping track of how much it took to get a certain level of inebriation.

I had gone home for the weekend and had gotten ready to get absolutely trashed. I wasn't a scientist, but I remembered my old tolerances from as far back as my old military days when I was younger and much more prone to wild parties. Those memories, combined with a notebook, a breathalyzer and me recording how much I drank per alcohol percentages listed on the bottles, made for a very interesting experiment.

My tolerance was definitely higher than it should be. I drained two whole bottles of vodka that night and didn't even get close to actual alcohol poisoning. I'd certainly had a killer headache in the morning but I'd even managed to bounce back from that fairly quick. Overall, I classified it as a good experiment, even if the data was a bit vague. My body processed alcohol faster than it should for a normal human, no question. Could it also mean that I processed other toxins faster than a normal human would?

My next experiment was easier to run, if less fun. I decided to test if I could hold my breath longer than normal. I knew that the average human could hold their breath from anywhere between one and two minutes if pressed and much longer if they breathed in pure oxygen for a few minutes beforehand. Just sitting on my couch and holding my breath wasn't too conclusive, so I doubled it down by filling up my bathtub and submerging myself once it was full. I held a stopwatch in my hand to time exactly when I went under and when I emerged.

Each time, the result was the same. Over three minutes before I had to surface and start gulping air. I knew that was definitely not normal. Not without special precautions beforehand, which I wasn't taking. Was it my lung capacity? I thought it was more likely that I processed oxygen more efficiently than a baseline human since bigger lungs would have definitely been noted on an x-ray by somebody at some point. That also held its own implications to how hard I could run if pushed and what my endurance level might truly be.

Other than those two tests and continuing to work out as I normally did, I was out of ideas for the moment. I also didn't have any equipment capable of measuring me more accurately or a second set of eyes I wanted to bring into this to help me. Not right now anyway. I trusted my team and I think we'd bonded enough that I doubted that they'd 'turn me in,' but I didn't want them to be faced with any kind of moral dilemma if we could just avoid the whole issue. They would handle anything and everything thrown at them just fine without me adding my own complicated problems to the mix.

Besides, I had my own plans to consider. These changes were an unexpected bonus but should be completely eclipsed by the enhancements I planned to secure for myself down the road.

Once I got to-

"Didn't you mention something about a movie night before we left?"

I broke off my line of thought at the sound of Daniel's question. I shook my head as I stepped over a fallen log and turned to resume conversation with him.

"Well yeah. Do you have any idea how bored Teal'c has to be watching just TV all the time? I mean, I know we get cable under the mountain, thank God for that, but just think of all the great movies he hasn't seen or even heard of yet. I'm thinking Star Wars…"

**~SG-WOLF~**

Our search around the area of the stargate had yielded nothing. Eventually, we doubled back and met up with Carter and Teal'c. They hadn't had any luck either. I was contemplating setting up a camp somewhere when we saw a pair of the invisible insects fly and weave around the trees a short way off and above us.

Unfortunately, the two creatures were gone by the time we had our tranq guns out. The four of us quickly set off in pursuit. As we saw one of the creatures hovering near the top of a tree, I sent Carter and Teal'c far around to the left while Daniel came with me again. Teal'c wasn't carrying a tranq gun and Daniel wasn't exactly a crack shot, so I figured I was hedging our bets by splitting the team this way. I was pretty good myself and Carter was an excellent shot so I was betting one of us would have the best chance if certain forces didn't get in our way like I figured they would.

I was soon laying prone with Daniel beside me as I lined up my shot. I also got a good look at this creature as it was hovering. I don't think anyone would accuse one of these things as being beautiful. It at first looked like an oversized dragonfly but with an extra set of thin, almost transparent wings along its body. The wings beat so fast, they were like a blur as the creature hovered. Its legs were segmented and were curled inward towards its belly, like a spider's or a crab's. The carapace on its bulbous head seemed to reflect a dozen shades of color as the sunlight caught it.

I tried to aim for the creature's center of mass as best I could with how it kept zipping side to side in short distances like a hummingbird. Before I could squeeze the trigger, a shot from a staff weapon went high and to the right of the creature, sending it flying off and back into its camouflaged state.

Annoyed, I pulled out my radio. "Teal'c, what the hell was that?"

"_It did not come from me, MacDuff,"_ he responded.

Just then, a pair of jaffa in full armor ran forward from behind some trees and began to scan the skies around them for any sign of the creature. We heard the deep voice of a goa'uld call out from behind them, soon followed by the reveal of whom I thought would be Apophis.

Except, it wasn't him.

The man who emerged and came up behind the two jaffa looked to be a middle-aged black man. He was rather tall; about 6'5" or 6'6" with broad shoulders and toned muscles defining the shape of his arms. He possessed a lean but muscular build and had a strong jawline and healthy features with a cleanshaven face with short, black hair atop his head. He was wearing a finely cut outfit with a black leather vest and long-sleeved green tunic beneath it. His boots ended about mid-calf and also seemed to have some sort of stylized etching done into the leather. As he turned his head, the sunlight caught a reflection, revealing thick, gold ring piercings on his ears and another through his nose.

'_Who the hell is that?'_ I thought to myself.

I watched as another half dozen jaffa came up behind him and the goa'uld gave orders for them to seemingly keep looking for the creature. Some of the jaffa were carrying packs that looked heavy but all of the jaffa were armed and looked attentive to their surroundings.

I reached for my radio and quietly spoke into it. "Teal'c, Carter," I called. "Fall back along the ridge and meet up with us. Quick and quiet. We've got to come up with a new plan."

**~SG-WOLF~**

"You recognize that guy, Teal'c?"

Teal'c nodded gravely as we all crouched beneath the base of a large tree. It provided some shelter from the sudden rainfall that had started just before we met up and didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon.

"His name is Kolivat," Teal'c informed us. "He is a servant of Apophis. He rules over several worlds in Apophis' name and often is called upon to act on his behalf."

"Which today, seems to be hunting the same creature we are," I mused.

"That would appear to be the case," Teal'c agreed.

Daniel wasted no more time once he knew this was a servant of Apophis.

"So what are we going to do?" Daniel pressed. "We have to do something!"

"Daniel, we're not equipped for taking on a goa'uld hunting party," I informed him. "We've got a couple of extra mags for our MP5s and Teal'c's staff weapon but most of our gear is gone and we're carrying the tranq guns."

"Look, just forget that!" Daniel waved all that away insistently. "He would know where Apophis, Sha're and Skaara are! We may never get a chance like this again!"

I grimaced as I thought about it. As much as I didn't like it, Daniel was right. This ambush went poorly the first time around but that didn't mean it wasn't a huge opportunity. Even if this wasn't Apophis, one of his subordinates would still make for a huge prize whether we took him with us or took him down.

I also recalled the creature vanishing earlier. Since it was the Nox who made them invisible and not the creatures themselves, that would indicate that the Nox were watching us right now. They'd stop the ambush before it got out of hand and likely revive us afterwards even if we screwed it up. I didn't like putting so much of this out of our hands but this was a calculated risk to not only take on that group but to meet the Nox.

"Sir," Carter interjected. "Are we seriously entertaining the idea of taking on that whole group?"

I held out my hand and gestured uncertainly to show I was considering it.

"Sir, we're not equipped for that! You've said it yourself!" Carter protested. "Half of our ordinance is tranquilizer darts!"

"Which we can use to knock him out," Daniel rationalized again. "He'll wake up in a holding cell without his guards, his technology, his servants and he'll have no choice but to tell us what we want to know about goa'uld technology and about where Apophis is!"

I had to hand it to Daniel; he was making a lot of sense. Even if his judgement was clearly heavily influenced by his viewing this as an opportunity to get Sha're and Skaara back.

I pointed to Teal'c. "You know better than anyone what we're up against here," I stated. "Do you think we have a chance of pulling this off?"

"I have my staff weapon and you all are armed as well," Teal'c replied. "He is not wearing any armor. We will have the element of surprise. If we eliminate his personal guard, Kolivat will be quick to surrender if he believes it will save his life. It is the way of the goa'uld to do so if taken by surprise by one of their rivals."

"But do you think we should do it?" I pressed.

Teal'c looked me in the eye for a moment before nodding and replying. "I do."

I nodded in return and looked to Carter. She sighed and adjusted her MP5's strap. "If we're going to do this," she said. "We're gonna need to set up a really good ambush."

**~SG-WOLF~**

We actually found a perfect spot to lay in the ambush. About a half mile ahead of Kolivat's hunting party, we found a small cliff and a number of large boulders that offered good cover. We laid in wait of their group and didn't have to wait long before they came into sight and passed the rocky outcropping.

Their group was split into two. Kolivat had brought three jaffa with him and was advancing with them ahead of the rest of the group who were less than a hundred yards behind them and carrying all of the supplies they had brought.

As I crouched in my position at the rear of the ambush, their group came to a halt just inside of the ideal ambush zone. One of the jaffa, a youthful looking black man with a gold serpent on his forehead, stepped forward and began to examine the ground several yards ahead of the others.

He looked up and took several more steps forward with his staff weapon held in front of him. He showed barely more than a split second of surprise when Teal'c came out of cover a few yards in front of him and fired his staff weapon. The young jaffa was quick to react and rolled to his side and behind another large rock. Teal'c's staff blast struck the ground and only succeeded in splattering the younger jaffa with dirt.

The rest of us quickly reacted as Carter and Daniel opened fire on the other two jaffa. However, we had lost the element of surprise and the two were quick to get to cover and return fire. One of the jaffa was definitely hit but pushed past the obviously serious injury to keep fighting.

I jumped down from the slightly elevated spot I had been hiding in and came out with my tranq gun ready. As I lined up my shot on Kolivat, he seemed to detect my approach and turned to face me, his hand on the ribbon device on his other wrist. I fired the tranq gun but the dart was stopped dead by a shimmering golden shield and fell to the ground just at his feet.

I was too late. The prick had activated his personal shield.

I glared at the bastard as he smirked at me. I quickly dropped the tranq gun and pulled out my sidearm. Kolivat ignored me for a moment as he called for the previously injured jaffa to toss him his staff weapon. I fired a few shots while he the weapon was passing through the shield into his hand, hoping that I might take advantage of the temporarily compromised shield. It wasn't to be as the .45 caliber rounds impacted the shield and fell to the ground uselessly. The bastard kept smirking at me as he pointed the staff weapon at me and prepared to fire it.

Expecting this, I chose to go with my backup plan. I timed my roll just right as I leaned forward and rolled _towards_ Kolivat instead of away. The unexpected move threw off Kolivat's aim enough that the blast from the staff weapon went over me and through where I was just standing instead of into me.

Coming out of my roll, I charged forward over the empty ground in front of us at him. I kept a firm grip on my sidearm and reached for my knife. If I could get close enough, his shield wouldn't stop slower moving things like knife strikes or even my 1911 fired at point blank range. I just had to get close enough first.

Rather than try firing the staff weapon at me again, Kolivat took me by surprise. He took his right hand, the one with the hand device, off of the staff weapon and held out his hand at me with his palm splayed open and revealing the ruby and amber looking gem glowing brightly in the center of his hand.

I was too close to try dodging again and there wasn't any cover around us that I could reach in time. So, I stayed the course and kept heading right for the bastard. For a moment, I thought I might make it. Then, Kolivat's smirk became a full-blown grin as he let loose a blast from the hand device and sent out a distorted wave of pure kinetic force.

'_Aw, shit,'_ I thought.

Lots of people use the phrase 'feels like I've been hit with a truck,' but are really just exaggerating to make a point. This wave easily hit me with the amount of force I'd equate to that of a speeding car striking me head on. And the driver wasn't even tapping the brakes.

The wave struck me all at once. It immediately halted my forward momentum and sent me back. Actually, it sent me _flying_ back. I was launched backwards at a slight upwards angle and actually lost contact with the ground as I felt what must have been several bones cracking as I struck the face of a large boulder I seemed to recall being over ten yards behind me when I started my charge.

I suppose it was a slight mercy that I couldn't feel any pain. However, I knew that likely meant that my injuries were too severe for me to process them all right away. I thought I heard Carter yell out to me but I couldn't be sure.

Sound, sight and feeling faded from my perception as the familiar feeling of death came upon me again.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I jerked awake with a sharp inhale of breath. I was lying face down on a cot of some sort while I felt someone's hands feeling up my back.

I sat up quickly and saw Carter and Daniel crouching beside me as we were all inside of a small hut with two other empty cots nearby. I took a moment to regain my bearings as I realized we were indeed saved by the Nox after our ambush. I turned to my two teammates.

"Wasn't I just thrown through the air and into a big rock?" I asked.

"Yes sir, you were," Carter answered. "And you seem totally fine now, as are Daniel and I."

I reached behind me and felt my back where I had impacted that boulder. I felt entirely normal. Not so much as a creak as I sat up to show that I had just recovered from what must have been a severe spinal injury. I also noticed two rather large holes in the clothing of my two teammates, exposing healthy, unblemished skin beneath. I realized those must be where the two of them were hit by staff blasts since while the clothing was damaged, they were completely fine.

"Because I'd also swear I just died," I informed them. "And those holes in your uniforms are also rather alarming."

Daniel looked down to examine the charred hole in his own uniform while Carter responded.

"I certainly remember dying, sir," she responded. "So does Daniel. But right now, I have no idea where Teal'c is and my sidearm is missing."

I checked my own holster and found mine gone as well. "So's mine," I informed them. "My extra ammo and knife too."

Just then, the flap at the opening to the hut was pulled aside and a figure entered. I and the others blinked in surprise at this being's appearance but my own surprise was a bit different than that of my teammates. I believed this to be a Nox but he was very different than what I had expected.

This was no actor with a wig and a weird costume. While he was humanoid in shape and appeared generally male, his features were just different enough that he would stand out clearly. His hair was a pale, straw-like coloring mixed with different strands of yellow and green. Several dried plants seemed to be woven into strands of hair near the back of his head as well. It was crinkled like it was perhaps unwashed yet moved in such a way that suggested it was supposed to look like that. His eyes were just a bit too large for his face and his nose a bit small by human standards. His clothes were made of some strange purple scraps that seemed to have been harvested from some plant and then sewn or attached to each other to create a long gown-like garment that only left the head, hands and feet visible. Speaking of hands, I noticed that while they were very human-like on this man, they were definitely longer than a human's. Each finger bone looked at least half an inch longer in proportion to the Nox's hand than it should be.

A moment later, a second Nox came in and stood behind the first. Where the first man was short, this woman could definitely be considered tall. She stood more than a head above the male who had come in first and seemed to take a gentle, almost reserved posture beside him.

She was dressed similarly to the male but for the cut of the gown she was wearing. It was trimmed tight enough against her body that her more feminine features were visible and made plain the gender difference. Her features were slightly more delicate and her fingers were slightly longer but she was clearly a member of the same species.

Even though I was expecting an alien, even I was put off my how different the Nox looked. Maybe they could be mistaken for an offshoot of humanity but there was something else to them. Almost like an aura of calm they were putting out but wasn't visible to us. If I had to compare it to something, it'd be like the feeling one may get when looking at a waterfall or a mountaintop view. Like you were seeing nature, life and beauty all alive at the same moment.

"Um, hi," Daniel greeted. "I'm Daniel Jackson. This is Captain Carter and uh…"

"Colonel Lennex MacDuff, SG-Wolf," I finished, keeping my eyes on the Nox. "We're sorry to drop in on you folks like this but we were recently…dead. We would've tried to call ahead otherwise."

The Nox gave no real reaction to my words. They just smiled serenely as they looked at us and listened to our words.

"Do you know where our friend is?" Carter asked, gesturing to us and our clothing. "Another like us?"

The woman raised her hands and gestured for us to follow with both of her hands as she backed out of the hut. The male Nox followed after her a moment later.

I exchanged looks with my two teammates and rose to my feet to follow. Carter and Daniel followed behind me a moment later.

As we exited the hut, I saw that we were in a small village situated beneath some very large and old trees. There was a fire pit in the center of three huts other than the one we'd just exited and they all seemed roughly the same size. Around the settlement were some sort of stands that had some sort of plant growing around them. From the plants, were several kinds of colored fruits that seemed to be like a small natural farm for the settlement. The stands seemed like they had once been trees but were cultivated to grow fruit for the Nox. How they were grown in that way, I was unsure but it certainly looked nice.

The female Nox gestured us to a series of bowls laid around a few seats constructed from woven reeds and fallen branches. Sitting around the bowls as we approached were two other Nox; a young boy who looked no older than ten and a much older looking male sitting beside him.

The bowls were all filled with various fruits and plants. It all looked fresh and delicious but I also noticed that there wasn't any meat or even insects for protein. I idly wondered what the Nox did for protein in their diet. Maybe they didn't need it as much as humans did?

"Ah, hello." Daniel greeted the two new Nox as we were gestured to our seats. "Yes, this looks wonderful, thank you."

The elder Nox began passing us small fruits from the bowl as we sat down. Like the others, he had a serene look about him except it was clearly more weathered by time than the others. The lines on his face were clearly from a long life of smiling. He was smiling even now as he offered us up small fruits that resembled radishes.

"Ah yes, thank you. I was just about to ask what the vegetarian option was. I don't suppose you have a fish option?" I asked, not expecting an answer. None of the Nox reacted to my words, so I'm guessing they don't understand us yet. That, or they just all keep great poker faces.

The small boy rose from his seat and came over to me. Much smaller than his elders, the boy had an almost cherub appearance about him. I noticed that his hair was every bit as crinkled and untamed as his elders, suggesting that the Nox may typically choose to wear their hair like that or perhaps it just grew like that on its own. The little boy didn't speak but just smiled as he tilted his head curiously at me. I honestly found it just a little bit unnerving how he barely seemed to blink as he stared at me.

"Well, uh... hello there," I began rather lamely. "Uh, those things you found on us, those, um, things you took from us? Well, they're very dangerous and…" The boy ran off. "And that didn't go anywhere. Thanks anyway."

As I turned to watch where the boy ran off to, I spotted Teal'c coming into the settlement. The boy ran to him and guided Teal'c over to us by the arm although it seemed Teal'c already knew where he was going.

"Teal'c! Buddy! There you are!" I rose to meet them as the boy led Teal'c to us. "Please tell me you have some idea what's going on around here."

"I cannot tell you that," Teal'c informed me.

"What about the other jaffa or Kolivat? You got a line on them?"

"I do not."

"Any idea how far away from the stargate's last location we might be?"

"I believe us to…"

Teal'c and I were both distracted when the Nox child stepped away from Teal'c's side and walked over to stand right in front of Carter, who was still sitting and examining the radish looking fruit she'd been handed. Carter looked up to greet the small boy as he stood before her.

The boy tapped his chest and smiled as he finally spoke one word. "Nafrayu," the boy said.

"Nafrayu?" Carter asked, gesturing to the boy. When he nodded, she then gestured to herself with the same hand. "Carter," she introduced.

"Carter," the boy, Nafrayu, repeated with a wide smile. Carter smiled back at the small boy, who was admittedly acting pretty cute.

"No," I informed her. "You can't keep him. I don't care if he does try to follow you home."

Carter just rolled her eyes at me in response.

**~SG-WOLF~**

One of the males was cooking some sort of porridge over by the firepit. Seeming to finish, he brought some over to us in a large cone shaped bowl that appeared to be made out of one or several leaves. He scooped some out with a wooden spoon and into a cup, also made out of a leaf. He held it out toward us, who sat beside the fire watching him. I tapped Daniel on the arm and he accepted the offered food.

"Maybe you should ask them about the stargate," I suggested.

"I tried; they didn't understand. Actually, they don't really say much at all. At the moment I'm trying to figure out if they're human," Daniel said, shrugging.

"They're fairly human," Carter said as she looked at Nafrayu who was seated beside her.

"I will take you to your doorway," one suddenly said in slow, careful English. Daniel's mouth actually dropped open in shock as we all turned in surprise at the suddenly understandable Nox.

"Well, that's impressive," I replied.

"You understand what I'm saying?" asked Daniel

"It took time to learn your speech," said the male as he nodded to us.

"Not much time," Carter said.

"Your weapons are gone," the Nox told us.

"Gone where?" I asked. The man instead ignored me and took a bite of his food, looking evasive.

"You know about our enemy?" asked Sam.

"You might have noticed them. Bunch of big guys in heavy armor stomping through the forest? They'll be looking for us," I elaborated.

"You attacked them," said the woman. She didn't say it in an accusatory way. To me, it was reproachful. As if we were misbehaving children and the teacher had caught us trying to justify our behavior.

"You saw that?" asked Daniel

"We only meant to capture him," Carter explained.

"Look," I tried. "We're not assassins. We're explorers and soldiers. That man is our enemy. He and the one he serves are responsible for a lot of bad things. I'm not lying to you when I say us taking him away from here is the best option for all of us."

I looked to see that the Nox clearly weren't responding to what I was saying. I tried switching to a different track instead.

"Look, we're not bad people," I told them. "We didn't come here to hurt anyone and we're grateful for the help you've provided us. We've already told you who we are. Can you tell us your names?"

The male who was doing most of the talking nodded to me after seeming to think about it for a moment. He gestured to himself. "I am Anteaus," he began. He gestured to the woman beside him with the bowl of fruit. "This is Lya," he continued. He pointed to the oldest one who had not spoken and seemed more interested in his meal than this conversation. "And this is Opher," he finished. He then nodded at Nafrayu. "You have already been introduced to Nafrayu," he added.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you," I replied. "

"We will take you to your doorway," Anteaus informed us. "Rest now. Eat. You will go. And you will take your ways with you." Anteaus stood, seeming ready to finish the conversation altogether. Daniel raised a hand, reluctant for him to do so.

"No, wait. Look, you helped us. You…saved us," he said.

"Yes."

"How?" I asked.

"Our ways."

"We're from a race of people that want to learn about your ways. Your medicine," explained Daniel.

"No."

This conversation was quickly reminding me why I never much cared for the Nox.

"Is there anyone else we could talk to? Do you have a leader?" I asked.

Anteaus shook his head. "They have no wish to see you."

"So, there are others," I confirmed. "You've already spoken with them then?"

"You will go," said Anteaus more firmly before walking away.

"Well, I guess that's that," I sighed. Lya then came around to us and handed out cups of water and more food.

"If you wish us to leave, should we not depart now?" asked Teal'c.

"Your brothers won't revive until later," said Lya as she handed Carter a bowl of the porridge and moved to follow Anteaus.

'_The dead jaffa,'_ I recalled.

"Excuse me?" I asked, sounding confused. Lya stopped and turned around. "Whose brothers?"

Lya beckoned us to follow her, again using both hands cupped close to her body in that strange way she seemed to prefer. Rising to our feet, we followed her. We were led by her to one of the huts adjacent to the one we all woke up in. Entering it, Lya moved to a corner and pulled aside a curtain of straw and leaves to reveal three cots.

I could feel the dread and apprehension in the room as we saw what was on the cots.

On the beds, healed from their wounds but still asleep, were the bodies of three sleeping jaffa.

**AN: I think I kept you guys waiting long enough for this chapter. The second half is almost done, so I decided to split the chapter to get you guys started and to reassure you all that this story is far from dead. The second part/conclusion is more than halfway done and will be out soon.**

**To all the folks who wrote me with story suggestions and ideas; thank you so much! Your support is greatly appreciated! It's an amazingly uplifting feeling to get a message in the middle of my day telling me that I rock! **

**And as a special note to the person who says I need to make my MC nonbinary, gay, colored, whatever; give it a rest already, would ya? I have nothing against you if that's the way you want to live your life but please stop bothering me with your 'polite suggestions.' Good manners go a long way too, dude.**

**Remember, Part Two is coming soon!**

**As always, I love to read your reviews! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Clarification:

"I am speaking aloud" - Normal speech

_"I am thinking to myself"_ \- Thinking

**"And I am your god!"** \- Goa'uld deep voice warp thing

Chapter 14: Meeting the Nox, Part Two

We followed Lya out of the hut. Quietly, as to not risk waking the sleeping jaffa.

"They resisted our attempts to help them heal," she informed us.

"They may yet survive. The goa'uld they carry within them are healing them even now," informed Teal'c.

"That is good," said Anteaus as he arrived.

"Probably not, actually," I said with a frown. "They'll attempt escape and likely bring their master back here. That's bad for all of us."

"_He_ is like them." Anteaus nodded toward Teal'c.

"He's with us," I replied.

"Perhaps you can convince the injured one to join you as well?" suggested Lya.

I was honestly wondering if the Nox were playing at being this ignorant of the goa'uld to see our reactions or if they were truly this ignorant of the people who made a habit of hunting in their forests and had conquered and enslaved so much of the galaxy. Pacifism I could believe; but this degree of ignorance? It had to be an act.

Right?

"Oh, I don't think so," Carter responded, resting a hand on Nafrayu's shoulder as the boy seemed rather attached to her. He hadn't left her side since asking her name.

"The goa'uld are a…parasitic race. They take life and use it for their own purposes," explained Daniel, delicately.

"And their ways are not like your ways, believe me," I finished. "They live their lives controlling through strength and fear. If they believe they can just take what they want from you, they will."

"They do not know the Nox," Anteaus protested.

"That's you? The Nox?" asked Daniel.

Anteaus nodded. "The ones you speak of come to hunt the fen'ri."

"Fen'ri," I repeated. "That disappearing, fast, flying creature around here?"

"Yes. Fen'ri." Anteaus nodded.

_'This is getting us nowhere,'_ I thought. _'Time is slipping away and we need to start making moves.'_

"All right, this situation is only getting more serious by the minute," I sighed aloud. "I don't think you're understanding what it is we're getting at. Is there some sort of elder we could speak to or something?"

"Opher is one of the eldest of the Nox," Anteaus informed us as he waved an arm back towards where the food was laid out. The older man we had met before smiled at us and waves at the mention of his name. Anteaus crosses over to him and pulls Opher to his feet.

I had no real desire to try and pry generic information about their species out of this guy. For the moment, I elected to ignore the older Nox as I kept my attention on Anteaus since he seemed to be in charge here. Daniel would doubtlessly be happy to speak to Opher himself later.

"You and your people are already in great danger by living so close to the stargate," I told him. "The goa'uld would likely hunt in the area around it whenever they come here. By staying here, you put yourselves at risk of being discovered."

"If Shak'l and the others do not die, you will be in even greater danger than you are now," Teal'c added.

"There will be no more death," Anteaus said, looking rather stricken at the idea of people dying. He turned his back to us, still keeping that aghast expression as he did so. Lya rushed over to place her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort.

"I have no intention of killing him. However, if Shak'l and the others survive their injuries, they will tell the goa'uld where to find you," explained Teal'c.

"Look, obviously your ability to heal is incredibly effective. Remarkably so," I told him. "But how do you and your people defend yourselves?"

"We don't," Anteaus replied, now keeping his back turned to us as he spoke.

_"Because invisibility isn't a defense?"_ I thought sarcastically.

"Then is there somewhere you can run to?" I tried. "Far away from here and the stargate so that they won't find you?"

"We will not leave."

"At least let us help you in exchange for what you did for us," pleaded Carter.

"You must go."

"Right. Well for now, since we don't know where the stargate is, we'll just go over here." I pointed. "Excuse us."

I walked to the opposite side of the clearing. The Nox remained where they were while everyone else followed behind me.

I turned to face my team as they gathered around me so we could talk quietly.

"Teal'c, you mentioned one of them by name. You know anything about these guys?" I asked him.

Teal'c nodded. "I recognize one of them," he informed us. "Shak'l served in my command when I was first prime of Apophis. The others I do not recognize but are likely recruits from Chulak or some other jaffa world. They have likely been chosen for this mission by Shak'l to come with him and may face punishment if this hunt does not succeed."

"Well, we can't just walk away. We're kind of responsible for this situation. I mean, if we hadn't attacked Kolivat, they wouldn't even be here," Carter reminded us.

"And we can't kill them either," Daniel mused. All of us, even Teal'c, looked at him in surprise at the uncharacteristically bloodthirsty statement.

"I, uh, wasn't…considering it. I was just…stating a fact," Daniel defended, looking sheepish.

"Okay, we'll take Shak'l and his buddies back with us. It's not quite as good as having Kolivat, but they can't stay here," I suggested.

"Kolivat will not allow us to leave this world alive. You have challenged him and I have betrayed Apophis. He would be greatly rewarded for killing or capturing me. He would also likely be punished for allowing us to escape. Even if we were to locate the stargate, leaving this world will be difficult," said Teal'c.

"So we're back to square one. We can't leave the jaffa here and we're not likely to get them back to the gate without running into Kolivat," Carter said with a sigh.

"Not to mention we still don't have our weapons," I reminded them. "It'd be hard enough getting them back when we don't have weapons to keep prisoners in line. I don't want to imagine running into Kolivat again when we're not armed."

I felt my spine tingle a bit as I thought of Kolivat. I swore to myself I would never let him get the chance to blast me like that again. As confident as I was that there would be no serious consequences to that ambush, it was still slightly jarring to experience such a violent death. It was vastly different to passing away quietly in a hospital bed and I was not eager to experience anything like it again.

Shaking myself out of those depressing thoughts, I refocused on the current situation.

"Okay, we'll try and find out as much as we can about the Nox; it's part of our mission too, right? In the meantime, I think you better check on your friends, Teal'c. Whatever we end up doing, I don't think they're going to wake up in a good mood. Know what I mean?" I patted Teal'c on the shoulder.

**~SG-WOLF~**

While Teal'c stood guard over the three jaffa, I was considering our options. Carter and I immediately got to work gathering sticks suitable to turn into spears and began sharpening them with a few jagged rocks we had found around the Nox settlement. I had thought about making a bow and arrows, but had disregarded the idea due to the inaccuracy such a bow would have given the time and materials available to me. It was safer to stick to spears. We could make plenty and could always throw them if we had to attack at range.

"I really don't get the point of this," Daniel remarked as he sharpened his own spear.

"It's so we have an option if we have to hustle those jaffa back to the gate or happen to run into Kolivat again on the way," I told him.

"What good are sharpened sticks going to be against that kind of firepower?" he asked.

"Any weapon is better than no weapon when it comes to survival," Carter chimed in as she came over with a few more branches suitable to be turned into spears. "And sharpened sticks can still do a fair bit of damage if needed."

"You guys just don't give up, do you?" Daniel asked.

"Nope," I answered, placing the now dulled rock on the ground beside me and picking up another one with an edge I could use to continue sharpening the spear I was working on. "I've spent plenty of time moving between the different special forces groups. Pararescue goes everywhere. You certainly don't find many quitters in those units. How about you, Carter?"

"Sir?" she asked, taking a seat and starting a new spear.

"You've been doing research projects for the last few years, right?" I asked. "You've got piloting, parachute school and a half dozen other certifications that aren't at all academic though. Where'd you pick up a resume like that? Shooting for NASA?"

Carter seemed taken aback and then impressed at my 'lucky' guess. "Yes sir, that's exactly right," she informed me. "It was before I was brought on to the Stargate Program, of course. I was trying to get into the astronaut program. Anything after piloting and test scores can only increase someone's chances of getting in, even if they're not aerospace related like survival training or advanced combat courses."

"All things considered," she grinned. "I think I definitely landed a much more important assignment."

"Couldn't agree more, captain," I said, returning her grin with one of my own.

"Something tells me we don't make very good Nox," Daniel said.

"Probably not," I replied. "Just don't expect me to be ashamed of that fact."

The Nox boy, Nafrayu, walked up to me at that point. I had seen him watching us from the side of the hut for a little while now but it seemed he finally had decided to come forward and talk to us on his own.

"Is that a weapon?" the boy asked.

"Yes, it is," I told him. "And you can't have it."

I stood up. "I'm going to start practicing with what I've already made," I told the others. "I won't be far."

I stood up to go and practice my throwing. As I walked into the forest, Nafrayu followed after me.

**~SG-WOLF~**

The handmade spear flew through the air far more straightly than one might have expected. Its sharpened tip sank into the large tree root I was aiming for. I strolled up to collect the spears I had thrown, some more accurately than others. This was definitely harder than it looked but I was pretty satisfied with my results so far.

Nafrayu trotted up behind me. I had told him that if he insisted on following me, he had to stand behind me as I practiced and to be quiet as well. Now that I had finished throwing the spears I had brought with me, he seemed to take that as his cue to start talking again.

"If you blunted these sticks, they would be good for knocking fruit from the highest branches," suggested Nafrayu.

"I bet they would," I agreed, pulling the one I just threw out of the root I hit. "But today, they'll help keep us safe."

I examined the spear tip as I picked it up. It certainly wasn't ideal, but it could certainly cause serious injury if used properly. It was fortunate that Kolivat wasn't heavily armored like his jaffa. That would make it much easier to fight him if I didn't have to worry so much about my hits bouncing off of metal. As it was, fighting his jaffa would be a dubious prospect with how covered they all were by that armor.

"Why do you want to fight them?" Nafrayu asked.

"It's not a matter of wanting to," I tried to explain. "It's about _having_ to. Because not doing so could be worse for everyone."

"What if one of you just choose not to fight?"

"It's not that simple," I sighed, walking back towards the settlement. Nafrayu followed at my side. "Look, I believe in peace, just like you. But my job is to protect people."

"But why do you fight?"

"Because sometimes, our enemy gives us no option," I told him. "Because the consequences of doing nothing are far worse than doing something."

"Perhaps I should learn to understand them better," Nafrayu offered. "Maybe you don't have to fight if we all understood each other better."

"No! Look Nafrayu, you need to stay away from- "

I was cut off from explaining to the boy how terrible that idea was when a fen'ri appeared above us, completely visible. It buzzed angrily as it hovered above us and I really wasn't liking how its long, dragonfly-like tail flexed and looked like it's going to attack.

"Go on, run! Run!" I urged Nafrayu as he took off and away from the creature.

I jabbed my spear at the fen'ri. The creature seemed to keep its attention on me as it continued to rise and fall above me. Its angry buzzing was added to by a horrible screeching noise as it descended lower than it had before. Taking a risk, I threw one of my spears up at the creature. The fen'ri darted away and the spear completed its arc before it fell back to the ground, missing the creature completely.

Shaking my head in frustration, I went to where I think the spear landed to look for it.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Out of thin air, the Nox male from earlier-Anteaus, I recalled-appeared as if out of mist. He took only a single step forward before becoming visible. His expression firm and set as he stared me down.

"You will not teach Nafrayu your ways," he stated sternly.

"How'd you do that?" I asked. I didn't really expect an answer but it was one hell of a cloak to block out not only visual light, but to keep him from making noise as he walked across the forest floor. It also somehow managed to keep running without any distortion under this light rain. That was one damn impressive trick.

"It is not the fen'ri that have the ability to hide," Anteaus stated instead. "It is the Nox."

"So it _was_ you who hid the stargate," I stated. I already knew that but I had a role to play here.

"One was attracted by your arrival," Anteaus informed me. "We conceal them from the hunters who come."

"And has it maybe not occurred to you that doing that is _exactly_ what keeps drawing others here?" I asked a bit incredulously. "Nobody would likely come here for them if you didn't make them seem so special. The whole reason we came here is to take one for study and to figure out how it turns invisible."

"You very nearly killed one a moment ago," he replied. "Are you saying you would not harm these creatures even if you captured one?"

"That's completely different and you know it," I replied, a bit angry at the Nox's condescending attitude. "I was doing what I had to in order to protect the boy."

"You would protect his body but poison his mind?" Anteaus asked.

"Is that what I'm doing?" I asked. "You seem very certain that your way of doing things is the best way. Have you considered that others may disagree with you? That not everyone thinks the same way? I noticed you don't rush out to greet new visitors and explain that there's no hunting allowed here when they arrive through the stargate. Are you saying that you don't conceal yourselves from them because they might do you harm? If you are so confident in your own beliefs and your ways, why do you hide?"

Anteaus seemed ready to reply before stopping himself. There was a long pause as he just stood there, looking at me.

"You are not as you seem," he remarked, tilting his head as he observed me.

"In my own experience, few people are rarely exactly as they seem at first," I replied casually. Inside, I felt a knot form in my gut as I registered his words and tone as odd.

"Your companions all fit into the pattern naturally," he continued, seeming oblivious to my response. "But you are not natural. Not entirely. Where did you come from?"

The fact that he even suspected enough to ask that question set off alarm bells in my head. Did he seriously just detect that by looking at me?! Was Anteaus telepathic?

"I'm from Earth," I stated firmly, keeping my voice calm. "Just like two of my other teammates. Teal'c is from Chulak."

"But were you always?" Anteaus asked. "You exist here in this place, that is true. But you came from a place different than your companions. Did you do this yourself or did another do it for you?"

I just stood and stared at Anteaus. I swallowed hard as I realized that he was definitely sensing something that was tipping him off about the fact that I wasn't originally from this universe. I hadn't so much as hinted that little fact to anyone yet this man, this Nox, could sense it with some degree of accuracy. Enough that he could confront me about it now.

I wondered how it was possible for him to do that. Since the Nox were one of the original members of the alliance between the most powerful races, could they have evolved in a similar but different path than the Ancients? Their strange abilities seemed so innate and I couldn't see any discernible technology when they performed their illusion show. Was it because Anteaus and perhaps the rest of the Nox were truly psionic? Did they sense or perceive reality differently than most other species through the power of their minds?

I decided there was no point keeping up the act if that was the case. A bit of honesty might get me further than lying in this instance. "Another did it to me," I finally answered.

The Nox tilted his head as he studied me. "But not against your will?"

"No," I answered. "I agreed to it."

"Why?"

"Because it was asked of me. More than that, I can't really say."

Just because he had correctly assumed that I was not from this universe didn't mean I was just going to give him my life story.

Anteaus continued to look at me until I decided the silence wasn't getting us anywhere. Time to get back some control of this conversation.

"Is this some kind of warning?" I asked him. "Are we going to have some kind of problem?"

"Do you think we will have a problem?" he returned without missing a beat.

"You're certainly being vague if this is meant to warn me off of something," I informed him. "I get that you are set in your ways. You people are against violence and I can even respect that. But do you realize the danger you are inviting onto yourselves?"

"The Nox have preserved their ways and teachings for many generations," he replied in a placid tone. "We have outlasted many things. Some more terrible than you can imagine. But we have remained. And we will continue as we have."

I digested that for a moment. I had some idea that he might have been referring to the decline of the original great alliance between his people and the other races but wasn't sure that was it or if he referred to more than that.

"I respect that you want to avoid fighting if at all possible," I told him. "But exactly what price are you willing to pay for that belief? Or is it others who will have to ultimately pay for it?"

"What do you mean?" he asked me.

"By standing aside and taking no part in events, exactly how much suffering has this galaxy endured? Would certain forces even be a problem if the Nox had just done _something_? Stepped up when needed? Or at least have acted as a deterrent?" I asked him.

"It is not the Nox way to interfere in the lives of others," Anteaus admonished me.

"Maybe not," I allowed. "But what about the alliance between the four great races? Not much is seen of the others these days. Could the Nox not be bothered to pitch in when times got tough? I always thought mutual cooperation and contribution to a greater cause was the whole point of an alliance. Or was all the actual work that went into the alliance the effort of the other races and the Nox were just happy to be there and reap the benefits?"

Anteaus had looked stricken earlier at the mention of having to kill the captive jaffa. Now, he looked absolutely shocked.

"Where...who has told you of these things?" Anteaus asked, sounding truly uncertain for the first time.

"Perhaps I am not as young as I look," I informed him, satisfied to have gotten one over on this arrogant prick. The Nox, Anteaus in particular, had been acting insufferably smug since we met them. I was grateful for them healing us and I could even forgive them for their pacifism. Not my planet, not my rules. But this condescension was getting old. Actually, it _had_ gotten old. I was definitely letting my disappointment in the Nox show in my choice of words.

"It...it is not my place...to discuss such...things," Anteaus finally said.

"Then answer me this one thing," I told him. "Are you actually protected by the other Nox right now? Or are you vulnerable to the goa'uld walking around the forest if they decide to attack you?"

Anteaus didn't answer me as he faded out of view and left me standing in the forest.

"Good talk. Very helpful. Thank you so much," I muttered aloud as I stomped back to the Nox settlement.

I suppose it would have been too much to expect for the arrogant prick to just say one way or the other if he even _needed_ our protection? Although, I might have just scared him off when I showed that I knew more than I should.

Guess we're doing this the hard way.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I walked back to the Nox settlement and over to where the rest of my team was waiting for me, passing Opher and Lya as they tended to the fire pit in the center of their settlement. As I approached, Daniel shot to his feet to welcome me back.

"Opher is 432 years old," he informed me.

Or to show me he was fascinated after learning about the Nox.

"Definitely not human then," I replied, setting my bundle of spears down.

"No, uh, humanoid certainly but biologically distinct from anything that evolved on Earth, so far as I can determine," Daniel surmised.

"You figure out yet that they've been leading us on?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That creature we came here looking for? It has no camouflage or invisibility powers whatsoever," I informed them, gaining everyone's interest.

"Well then, how does it turn invisible?" Carter asked me, curiously.

"The Nox do it. They are the ones that can turn the creature invisible to hide it and probably do it to themselves to hide from the goa'uld," I said to them.

There was a moment of quiet as everyone processed that revelation and the implications that came with it.

"That makes this situation even worse," Carter said, giving voice to everyone's thoughts.

"If those jaffa report back that the Nox are here and discover that they are the ones with this power..." Daniel trailed off.

"Kolivat or Apophis will stop at nothing to posses it," Teal'c finished. "If they cannot acquire it for themselves, this planet will be bombarded until the Nox have certainly been wiped out. They would never allow the chance that another may come to uncover these secrets."

"Which means it's more important than ever that we get those jaffa out of here before they can escape," I said into the silence that followed. Teal'c certainly painted a grim picture with his words.

"We will not allow that."

Everyone gave a little jump as Anteaus appeared in the middle of our discussion as he spoke.

"Could you not do that?" I asked him.

"You can not be trusted with your enemy," Anteaus replied, once again with a condescending tone.

"Based on where you appeared, I'm guessing you were just eavesdropping on our discussion," I said to him. "Did you not listen to the part where we talked about the tremendous danger you're placing yourselves in?"

"We are not afraid," Anteaus told me.

"Is that out of bravery, arrogance or foolishness?" I asked.

"Lennex," Daniel said warningly. He held up a hand, asking me to settle down while he stood and tried speaking to Anteaus.

"Look," he tried. "This is our fault that this has happened. We are sorry and wish for the chance to correct it."

"None of them will be harmed," Carter added. "You have our word."

"We'll just take them back with us to our world. Only then will you be safe," Daniel told him.

"Only if that is their wish," Anteaus said firmly.

I didn't even try to hide my reaction as I face-palmed.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Teal'c and I both walked into the tent with the three jaffa in it. I discussed our approach with Teal'c before we came in and still didn't care much for how this was likely to turn out.

Teal'c had managed to convince Lya to let him tie the hands of the three jaffa, although she certainly didn't like it. He had done a search of the three to look for any hidden weapons but Lya had put a stop to it before Teal'c could go far. He didn't even get to take off the armor plates of the three before she stopped him. Teal'c had not pressed the issue due to how serious the Nox woman was about not allowing Teal'c to harm the three.

I recalled that Shak'l had escaped before using a hidden blade he had somewhere on his person. He had attacked Teal'c and Lya before running off. It was my hope to prevent this attack if possible and especially if Teal'c ended up facing three-to-one odds this time around. He might not make it out of this with just a knife wound. Hence, I was ready to help subdue Shak'l and the other prisoners if necessary.

Entering the hut, I followed behind Teal'c as he stepped forward and stood in front of the three jaffa who were all lying on their backs with their hands tied over their chests with rope the Nox had (reluctantly) provided.

"Jaffa," Teal'c addressed them. "I offer you all this last chance to join me."

"Before you kill us?" asked Shak'l mockingly from the bed closest to Teal'c. "You and your human allies do not have the courage. Otherwise you would have done so already."

"I have no desire to kill any of you," Teal'c replied.

"His offer is genuine," I informed Shak'l and the two still silent jaffa beside him. "If you come with us, you have our word you will be treated honorably. If you stay here, there's no guarantee what'll happen to you."

Shak'l glared at me silently for a moment before opening his mouth and yelling. He yelled loudly enough that Lya quickly came running in from outside the hut and leaned over Shak'l, examining him.

"What have you done to him?" Lya asked us both urgently.

I was prevented from answering her when I saw a short blade shoot out of Shak'l's gauntlet. The ropes holding Shak'l down came loose as he sat up and lashed out at the woman.

Everything started to happen very quickly after that.

Teal'c responded more quickly than I could. He grabbed Lya by the shoulders and pushed her out of harms way. However, he was not quick enough to get himself to safety as Shak'l's blade struck him in the side.

I tried to step forward to assist him but was immediately set upon by the two other jaffa who were also faking still being tied up. One reached for my throat but I responded with a hand chop to the jaffa's own exposed throat as he rose from the bed.

The jaffa gasped and gagged at the strike as he suddenly struggled to breath after I hit his windpipe. Teal'c and I both were forced to retreat back to the entrance of the tent as the third jaffa charged us.

But rather than attack either of us, he charged right past us both and headed out the entrance to the hut. I tried to stop him but I was too preoccupied with the jaffa I had just hit in the throat. He seemed to collect himself and was lunging at me again.

I reached out and met his charge before he could tackle me. He crashed into me hard but without much room to build up momentum, it wasn't enough for him to knock me back or put me on the ground. Our arms locked together as we tried to overpower each other. Fortunately, he wasn't particularly big or muscular, so he wasn't able to do so. He was strong enough to keep up the struggle though.

Frustrated by the events of today and now having to fight a jaffa hand-to-hand on top of everything else, I snarled at the jaffa in front of me and yelled out a warning to Daniel, Carter and the other Nox outside.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" I bellowed. "PRISONERS LOOSE!"

I shot my right leg out and hooked it around the ankle of the jaffa I was locked against. Unseating his leg with a swift pull, I knocked him off balance enough that he fell to the ground. I sidestepped and released him so that he wouldn't drag me down with him as he went crashing to the floor of the hut. As he hit the ground, I was on his back and grasping both sides of his head before he could recover.

With a powerful wrenching movement, the jaffa's next snapped like one of the tree branches I collected earlier that day. Dropping the now dead jaffa, I looked up to see that Teal'c had moved outside of the hut after the jaffa that had run out there. I also saw a large opening in the back of the hut which I am sure Shak'l created to make his own escape while his two subordinates distracted us. Looking to the last corner of the hut, I let out a curse as I saw what was there.

While we had been distracted by the assault of the other two jaffa, Shak'l had made his own move. But before he left, he had done one more thing. Whether she had tried to stop him or had been standing too close to his exit or had simply gotten on his bad side, Shak'l had chosen to 'deal with' Lya rather than ignore her and simply escape.

On the floor of the hut and slumped against the wall, was Lya. Blood still poured from the long, straight slit at her throat. Her eyes and expression showed no fear although the stillness of both showed me that it was already too late.

Lya was dead.

Unable to do anything about that right now, I decided to head back to the settlement to check if the other jaffa had been handled yet. Shak'l had a head start and had doubtlessly charged off into the woods at full speed. I however had my team to worry about as well as the other Nox if any of them had gotten in that jaffa's way when he went out there.

Heading out of the hut and preparing for anything, I was actually somewhat relieved by what I saw. Carter was tying up the jaffa as he lied facedown on the ground several yards from the entrance to the hut. He apparently hadn't managed to get far or do much as everyone else seemed fine. The rest of the Nox were all huddled a short ways away watching Carter truss up the escaped prisoner.

Daniel was applying pressure to Teal'c's knife wound, which looked bad to me but Teal'c seemed to be keeping his usual stoic expression, so I hoped that meant he'd be alright. As I took all this in, Teal'c was the first to take notice of me.

"The Nox woman?" Teal'c asked.

I shook my head in a negative. "She's dead," I informed them.

My team all adopted downcast expressions at the news. Anteaus and Opher hustled into the tent to see for themselves while the rest of us stayed outside and I caught my breath for a moment.

What a damn mess this had turned into.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We were all gathered around the edge of the settlement. I had gone scouting around the village to see if our little scuffle had attracted any attention with all the noise it had caused. I couldn't be sure the Nox were focused on keeping themselves hidden while they were in danger and I still had no clue where Kolivat and the rest of his jaffa were out there.

I gave it a half hour before calling it quits and heading back to the Nox settlement where Carter was cleaning Teal'c's knife wound. I was slightly surprised the Nox hadn't healed it, but they were probably prioritizing Lya's treatment.

"Where'd the Nox go with Lya and the other jaffa?" asked Daniel.

"Who knows where they ever go?" I answered rhetorically. "Shack'l's trail disappeared a short ways into the woods. He's gone."

"Shak'l escaped due to my own negligence. I trained him well," said Teal'c.

"Hey, don't blame yourself Teal'c. Those three made their choice and its not like you didn't do your best to talk them down first," I shook my head. "Though that doesn't help me relax."

I looked over to Carter and saw her starting to apply the dressing to Teal'c's wound.

"Is he going to be all right?" I asked her, looking towards them.

"Well, if it were you or me…" Carter trailed off.

"My wound will heal. We must find Shak'l," Teal'c insisted.

"We will," I assured him, keeping my eyes turned outwards from the settlement in case Shak'l decided to circle back around like he did in the show.

There was a strange noise, and a shimmer in the air. All of us turned to see Lya laying on a table under a large arc of flowery branches with the rest of the Nox standing over her. Their hands are crossed, their eyes closed as they faded in and out of view. We all stood entranced by the strange sight before us and I felt a strange tingle in the air as I watch the Nox stand there. Like the air itself was charged by the display we were seeing and what the Nox were doing.

When the view of them became fully stable, Lya slowly blinked and opened her eyes. She sat up, looking tired, and smiled when comforting hands touched her shoulders. Opher guided Lya away as the Nox dispersed from the flowery alter.

"You brought us back the same way?" I asked as Anteaus approached.

"Yes."

"You become visible during the ceremony," said Teal'c.

"When we are performing the ritual of life we are unable to shield ourselves."

"A weakness," Teal'c commented.

Anteaus nodded. "We are hidden again."

Looking around, I noticed one Nox who had disappeared just after Lya had gotten up. Taking that as my cue, I turned back to Anteaus and asked him,

"Where did Nafrayu go?"

**~SG-WOLF~**

I raced through the forest as Teal'c followed behind me while keeping pace. I had told Carter and Daniel to go the other direction to look for the boy. We had all gathered our improvised weapons before heading off, for what little good they would do us. I was hoping on the Nox backing us up if things got too dicey, but I wasn't completely sure if they'd revive us a second time after we had been warned to not attack the jaffa. What I did know was that finding Nafrayu before he was killed would be critical. His death is what left the Nox open to attack the first time around and preventing it would avoid that risk since the Nox could just remain hidden without concern.

I don't know if the Nox had decided to join us. I couldn't see them around us but that didn't really mean anything with them. They might be following us while cloaked or they may have gone off in another direction entirely. Regardless, I was going to do my best to find the boy before Kolivat or Shak'l found him first. Even if death could be a temporary condition for the Nox, I couldn't stand the thought of that little boy being killed just for kicks by either of them. I would do my damnedest to prevent it.

I held up my arm and signaled Teal'c to a halt beside me. I was feeling a bit winded from the quick pace he and I took, but he was barely breathing hard beside me.

Teal'c, being the incredibly disciplined warrior he was, waited for me to speak or indicate what was happening or why we had stopped before making any noise of his own. I pointed towards a formation of rocks just ahead of us. I recognized it as the area we had initially set up the ambush from earlier and decided that this is the most probable location where we might still find Kolivat or any of the other jaffa.

Motioning Teal'c forward, I signed for him to stay low and quiet as we moved. He nodded and followed close behind me, his extra large stick at the ready. Teal'c had decided to employ the tried and true strategy of staying close to what one knows. He had found a large misshapen tree branch and had done his best to carve it up into a (very) crude approximation of his usual staff weapon. It may not have had a point on either end of it but it could likely kill someone if struck hard enough. Probably even knock down a fully armored jaffa given Teal'c's impressive muscles.

As we crept forward, I stopped suddenly when I heard an angry shout. I couldn't make out the words but the tone was unmistakably that of a goa'uld. Looking back to Teal'c, I saw that he too had heard it. I motioned for him to move around and to my left while I moved to the right around a large boulder which stuck out from the forest floor. Quietly, but more quickly than before, we advanced.

Taking the last few soft steps around the side of the large rock, I almost let out a curse at what I saw on the other side of it.

Several yards in front of us, I had found our quarry. Nafrayu was standing unafraid as he curiously looked to the surprised faces of Kolivat and one of his jaffa. No doubt the boy had suddenly appeared before them and had startled the pair.

I had no idea where the rest of the hunting party had gone. However, With those two we had overcome at the village, plus Shak'l still presumably running through the forest somewhere, this meant there were four other jaffa unaccounted for. Kolivat had likely sent them out to search for us and the fen'ri, only keeping one guard here for protection. This idea was backed up when I saw that the packs the jaffa were carrying earlier had been piled up nearby.

"I am Nafrayu," the boy said.

**"Nesh'ak tal tar'chell,"** Kolivat said, now looking at the boy in front of him with curiosity. **"Where did you come from?"** he then asked.

"I live here," the boy replied. "Why did you come here?"

Kolivat seemed about to answer before he visibly stopped himself. He frowned at the Nox boy for a moment before speaking again.

**"I am a god,"** he informed the boy in an imperious tone. **"I go where I please. Are there more of you?"**

"A god?" Nafrayu repeated curiously. "You don't look like one. You look like a goa'uld."

I mentally cursed at the boy's naive response and choice of words. I quietly unslung the small bundle of spears from my back and prepared to charge in. I was coming up with a plan but I would need speed to achieve it. I'd have to get close and having those spears bouncing against my back would only hinder me. I kept my grip on the spear I was already holding. Fortunately, it was probably the best one I had made. I would need it any moment now.

Kolivat's frown turned to a dark sneer and even the lone jaffa at his side seemed ready to step forward and express his anger. Kolivat held up his arm to signal the jaffa to stay where he was. Sneering down at the boy, Kolivat pointed his finger at the boy as he spoke. As he did so, I noticed the gold covering over the finger, indicating that Kolivat was still wearing his hand device.

**"You will learn not speak to me in such a way, _boy_,"** Kolivat hissed, his eyes flashing.

Kolivat then spread his hand out as he held it out, palm pointed at Nafrayu. I heard the electric warping sound of the device and knew that we were out of time.

Racing from cover, I went right for Kolivat. As distracted as he was by Nafrayu in front of him, he didn't notice me coming at him from his side. Exploiting this one moment of surprise for all it was worth, I hefted my spear, the sharpest one I had.

It might not seem like an important piece of information, but the hand device that the goa'uld used was also called a ribbon device. It's because the device isn't like a glove but more like an elaborate piece of jewelry. It covers the fingertips and large portions of the palm and wrist but much of the hand is left exposed.

Making it a prime target.

My strike was right on that target as I drove my crude spear tip into the exposed portion of his hand. The sharp tip cut right through the thin portion of flesh and went right to the rather fragile hand and knuckle bones beneath. I was certain that I heard at least some of those bones snap as blood poured from the freshly made hole in his hand.

"**AHHG**," Kolivat yelled in shock and pain from the blow. He cradled his now broken and mangled hand close to his chest. I didn't react outwardly but inside, I was smirking at my success.

_"Here's hoping he's in too much pain to use that thing anytime soon,"_ I thought.

Teal'c seemed to have made his own move at about the same time as I did. I saw him charge the lone jaffa guard and slam into him at full force with his improvised wooden staff. I saw the jaffa get knocked to the ground and Teal'c kick the staff weapon out of his hand.

I didn't keep my attention on Teal'c as I had my own fight to attend to. Kolivat was recovering from his injury or at least was blocking out the pain bow. He was glaring at me with pure rage and a bit of shock in his eyes. It looked like he remembered me and was surprised to see me again. Understandable, since I should be severely injured if not dead from the injuries he inflicted on me during my last ambush.

"Nafrayu, RUN!" I yelled at the boy.

The small boy had been standing in shock at the events before him until this moment. He turned and ran back into the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.

Again, I was upon Kolivat. My intention was still to hopefully take him alive, so I didn't immediately go for his vital areas. I swung my spear, using it like a club as I aimed for his joints now.

I hit him twice to his right arm. Once at the elbow and again at the shoulder. When I swung a third time, Kolivat reacted by reaching out with his left hand and grabbing the spear before it hit him again.

I tried to wrench it back but the goa'uld's grip was too strong. Shocking me with his strength, he actually pulled it from _my _hands and pulled it back to swing it at me.

Fortunately either from pain or a lack of martial skill, Kolivat's swings were clumsy. He was telegraphing his movements and he was only gripping the spear with his uninjured hand while he swung it. I stepped back and dodged the attack.

Kolivat yelled as he swung, but missed again. I kept moving back and waited for an opening. I received it when Kolivat apparently grew too frustrated with his efforts and twirled the spear in his hands so that he was now gripping it from the correct end. He yelled again as he threw the spear at me as hard as he could.

I ducked under the throw and moved to the side as the poor throw went right over my head and struck the large rock behind me. I didn't try to recover the spear right now and instead chose to press my attack on Kolivat again.

I couldn't match that strength of his. I don't know if he was overclocking his adrenal gland or what, but he was incredibly strong. So, I had to try and defeat him through skill instead. He was already down one arm, so I already held the advantage.

I ducked under another swing of his arm as I struck at his chest with my fist. His fancy leather vest didn't do much to protect him as he recoiled and grunted at the pain from the blow. I was relying on my skill and mentally gifted 'experience' here but Kolivat wasn't much of an opponent in terms of skill. He clearly relied on his strength and technology heavily in the event he was attacked himself and it wasn't doing him any favors now.

Kolivat retreated from me but I lashed out again with a kick to his knees. My steel-toed boot impacted the side of the left leg before he could back out of range. He let out another cry of pain as he fell to the ground.

I stood tall over him as he writhed from the pain of his injuries. Looking up and over to where Teal'c and the other jaffa were, I saw that Teal'c had just overcome his own opponent and had him on the ground while Teal'c kneeled on his back and had an arm wrapped around his neck. He was in the process of choking him out and it looked like he didn't need my help with that.

I turned my eyes back to the situation in front of me and saw that Kolivat still hadn't gotten up. I stepped back and grabbed the spear where it had fallen after it had missed me before. It's tip was broken from the impact against the rock but it was still usable as a weapon.

Standing over the fallen goa'uld, I held the spear pointed at him but just out of reach in case he found the strength to lash out again. Although it certainly didn't look like he would as he didn't try to get up and chose to remain on the ground, glaring at me.

**"You will die for this insult!"** he screamed at me.

"That'll sound even funnier once I have you locked in a cell," I told him coldly.

I raised my spear and prepared to bash him in the face with the blunt end to hopefully knock him out. Just as I was within reach and about to swing, Kolivat disappeared from sight and I was left standing and prepared to strike the ground with my spear instead. Looking to where Teal'c was, I saw him looking around in surprise as the jaffa he had been fighting had disappeared too.

"Really?!" I yelled at the sky in frustration. "He tries to kill one of your children but you'll still prevent us from taking him?!"

Of course, there was no answer. Just the sounds of the forest.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Meeting up with the rest of the team, we soon found out that we couldn't find our way back to the Nox settlement. We spent a few minutes looking around for where we were fairly certain it was but ultimately decided to call it quits. We all made the hike back to the hill where the stargate was previously located and stood in the clearing.

Suddenly, just slightly uphill of us, Anteaus and Nafrayu appeared. They were standing side by side as they looked at us. It was as though they had been waiting here to greet us. I saw Nafrayu smile and wave at Carter and then surprisingly, at me. I waved and smiled back at the kid. It seemed he was a little more open to me after spending time with me and I had saved him from dying.

"We sent back the rest of your weapons through the doorway," Nefreyu informed us.

I kept a smile on my face as I winced internally. All that perfectly good gear and the FRED were likely destroyed against the Iris since the Nox likely didn't think about any defenses we'd have in front of our stargate. I get that they meant well, but that was one expensive mistake.

"We also sent the goa'uld back to where they came from," Anteaus said.

"They won't give up," I replied. "Not so long as they think they can come back and take what they want."

"Perhaps," Anteaus allowed. "But they may not remember what you think they will. We will also be burying the stargate after you leave."

"And speaking of the stargate…" I trailed off, looking around for it as it had still not appeared.

"You fear for us," Anteaus stated. "Why is that?"

"It is our way that the strong defend the weak," Teal'c answered.

The Nox smiled and nodded at that answer. "Before you go," Anteaus said, smiling. "There is something we would have you see."

Anteaus raised his hand and gestured behind us. As we turned, we caught sight of something truly spectacular.

A great city, floating in the air. It was difficult to judge due to the distances involved but it must have been miles across. Great spires colored in an aquatic blue stretched still further upwards all around the tallest spire in the center which must have been at least a kilometer tall on its own. Bulbous and squat structures surrounded the base of the city and were framed with incredible growths of vines that seemed to surround the whole city. Not a single sound came from the city. Not the sound of engines that must be keeping it afloat or the sounds of the possibly millions of people who lived there. It was a marvel of engineering to simply build one of these. And yet, I felt as if we were seeing only one of many such cities that floated above this world.

"Fear not," Anteaus said. "And perhaps you will one day learn that your way is not the only way."

With that, Anteaus and Nefreyu shimmered and disappeared right in front of our eyes. Turning our heads, we looked again to the great floating city in the distance.

"You know," I said. "It would have been nice if they'd told us about this earlier. Instead of hiding it, I mean."

"I think in their own way, they did," Daniel remarked.

We all watched as the cloaking effect of the city reactivated and the city began to disappear into the clouds. In mere moments, it was as if it was never there at all.

"It would appear as though the Nox possess technology far more advanced than that of the goa'uld," Teal'c remarked.

"They looked so helpless," Carter said.

"And now they're going to bury the stargate and we can never return," Daniel sadly added. "We should have listened."

"Not forever," I replied, trying to console my teammate. "One day, we may yet return. While I may not care for their ways, I'll admit that there's the possibility that we can still learn something from each other. Maybe one day, we'll teach each other a thing or two."

My team turned to look at me as I gestured for them to follow. "C'mon. SG-Wolf is overdue for its check-in. I'll dial it up for us."

As I dialed up the address for Earth, Carter readied her GDO to send through the signal.

"You think the SECDEF might be upset with us since we didn't bring back any advanced tech, sir?" she asked me.

"The SECDEF can blow me," I replied. "The idiot wants super weapons and techno-baubles so badly? He can come out here and get them himself. As far as I'm concerned, we're acquiring technology and knowledge at a more than acceptable pace. I'm not gonna risk SG team lives going treasure hunting to satisfy that idiot's greed."

"You gonna write that in your report, sir?" Carter asked, choking back a laugh as the stargate activated.

"Carter, you should know by now that phrasing statements like that in respectful and polite language is one of the hallmarks of being in the military," I answered in a pious tone. "Rest assured, my report will be the epitome of respect."

Carter sent the code through while trying to contain a snort of laughter at my ridiculous answer.

**AN: This chapter ****really**** got away from me as I started writing it! I fully expected to finish it and release it in quick succession with the next chapter. However, before I knew it, I was already 8k words into it and realized it was going to be a bit longer than I originally thought. Next time, I'll try to plan my splits so I don't leave you guys hanging for so long without a new chapter.**

**Sorry this one took longer than originally promised. I'll try to keep to my word better in the future or just not promise you guys quick results when life could easily get in the way of me having the time to finish my writing.**

**As always, I love to read your reviews!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 15: Brief Candle & Thor's Hammer

I sighed at my reflection in the mirror as I finished shaving. I spent an extra minute looking at my face and shirtless upper body to check for any signs of anything unusual but didn't find anything. I never did but I still found myself checking regardless every time I shaved or found myself standing in front of a mirror.

Not long ago, I had gotten out of the Infirmary and had resumed my normal duties. I was actually slightly ashamed to admit it but there had been a bit of a fiasco during one of our recent missions. All that careful forethought and I had still managed to shoot myself in the foot. Thankfully though, there were no lasting consequences so far as I or anyone could tell.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We had arrived just as one of the local women in the temple was about to give birth. Thankfully, all had gone well as Daniel had some actual experience with childbirth due to having learned and assisted a midwife at one point in his earlier life. I was ready to help since I had taken a class a literal lifetime ago but was of little help since that was all in a classroom with no actual experience. Later, we all breathed a sigh of relief that this birth was such a straightforward one. Daniel even got the honor of having the kid named after him in gratitude since both parents had been understandably panicked.

I studiously avoided making eye contact with any of the people around us as we were brought to the village fountain to participate in their celebrations. No marriage cake for me, thank you. This was one experience I was eager to dodge. We could help these people without me becoming a geriatric again, thank you very much. In the meantime, I was determined to avoid talking to anyone other than my teammates and not looking any of the women around here in the eye. They were all certainly an attractive bunch though. Probably a result of whichever asshole goa'uld running this experiment having decided that only the more attractive slaves would do.

As I was listening to Daniel remark on the celebrations around us, I was passed and accepted a big, fancy cup of what looked and smelled like wine. No sense not being at least somewhat social, I had thought. I had drained about half of the cup before everything started to blur...

_Much Later..._

Clarity of thought came back to me as I realized that I was definitely lying in a bed. I was also naked. I was offworld, naked and I really hadn't recalled why or how I had gotten to this point. I became more alert as I realized there was someone lying next to me and that should not have been the case based on what I could remember.

Turning my head, I saw a long mane of golden-brown hair and the local women who owned it was sleeping peacefully. How in the fuck...?!

I face-palmed as I remembered accepting the cup of wine.

_'Goddamnit,'_ I mentally cursed. _'I didn't even stop to consider the wine! Marriage cake or not, how in the hell did I forget that? Was there some kind of drug in that cup? Did I just get space roofied!?'_

I was trying to decide if I was more pissed at the woman who definitely drugged me or at myself for not being careful with what strange locals were feeding me. I'd foolishly bought into the idea that the wine was safe since everyone was drinking it. Whatever it was she had given me had clearly been strong enough that my body didn't work through it fast enough to completely eliminate the effects. I wanted to hit myself for allowing this situation to happen.

Gathering one of the sheets I was lying on, I was gratified to find that my clothes were in a neat pile beside the bed. I swung my legs out of the bed and planted my feet on the stone floor. As I looked around, I noticed that we weren't alone in the room. Scattered around us on various pillows and pieces of furniture were more of the locals. Every one of them was asleep and I felt my gut clench as I hoped that I wasn't also infected with the nanites that would make me start aging but knew it was probably too late by this point.

I had managed to get my pants back on when the rest of my team came into the room. Teal'c and Daniel kept looking at all of the locals and checking on their condition, while Carter seemed rather amused at me standing barefoot and shirtless in the room.

"So..." I began. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

"To them or to you?" Carter asked in response, smirking.

I held up a finger and pointed it at her warningly as I looked around the room. "That will be a conversation for another time," I told her.

"I've seen parties end abruptly but never quite like this," Carter remarked.

"They all just...collapsed!" Daniel said, confusedly.

"It happened just as the sun set," Teal'c added.

"They all look as if they're sleeping," I said, getting my shirt on. "Everyone at once though? And that fast? It's like everyone here is on a timer."

"A disease can't be this precise," Carter huffed, checking the pulse of a young woman lying on a couch. "It doesn't make any sense that this would happen all at once." She then turned to me. "What about you, sir?"

"I feel fine," I informed her. It was true too. I felt completely normal. "Okay, so if it's this wide spread and affecting everyone here but us, then it has to be something local. It has to be artificial too since there's no way any...disease..."

I trailed off as I started to feel tired midway through my explanation. I shook my head like a dog as I tried to get rid of the sudden drowsiness and was only rewarded with a yawn for my efforts.

"Sir?" Carter said concernedly as she approached me and reached out to check my pulse and breathing. Daniel and Teal'c approached quickly as well to check on me.

"Report back to Earth," I struggled to inform them tiredly. "From now on, we all stick to our...own...rations."

And with that, I was suddenly asleep.

**~SG-WOLF~**

What followed was a very annoying two-week period for me. Getting old again, even if I knew it to be mostly cosmetic and very temporary, was an extremely annoying experience. Arthritis doesn't get any more fun the second time around.

In short, things played out much like they did the first time around. Carter and the other scientists in the base's Nerd Tank uncovered and did research into the nanobots everyone here was infested with, I convinced the locals that they had all been fed a pile of horseshit by their 'god' and he was robbing them of life, we busted down the statue and I sent back a message to the SGC to let them know what I'd found inside of it. Everyone was thrilled to be free of this horrible experiment and I was able to squeeze in a bit of relaxation on the beach between counting grey hairs and hanging out with Kintia, the woman who drugged me.

I was actually kinda pissed at her at first but ultimately decided to forgive her. This woman was rapidly aged to adulthood and had very little life experience compared to anyone. Whatever anger I had for her was quick to fade once I realized she genuinely didn't mean any harm and had drugged me because she thought she was doing me a favor. She told me she thought I looked too serious, so she had decided to give me the 'special wine' to help me. Hardly unreasonable once I thought about it. When you only had a hundred days to live, you lived as much as you could and tried to get others to do the same. Tripping balls on whatever the 'special wine' had added to it probably helped a lot to cope with the constant reminder of everyone's short mortality.

Once I had forgiven her, she had actually been fun, if naive company. And maybe it was because I aged somewhat gracefully at first or because Kintia just had a thing for older men but she was _definitely_ still attracted to me, if you know what I'm saying. And it didn't hurt that I always had some 'new' and fascinating story or game to teach her. She was also a stark reminder of the old lesson of cherishing every day like it was going to be your last. I truly did wish her well when it was declared safe for me to hobble back through the stargate to Earth. She and the rest of her people would now have many years ahead of them to live and love to the fullest.

I (_thank God!_) returned to normal after about a week of the nanobots working their way through my system. I eventually peeled off that wrinkly layer of skin like a bad sunburn and not a moment too soon. Once everyone on my team realized that I was going to be totally fine, they had absolutely zero qualms about cracking old guy jokes at my expense. Daniel I could expect that from, since beneath that nerdy demeanor was a sharp wit and I knew he likely still smarted a bit over the fact that I had propagated the 'Chicken Man' story to pretty much the whole mountain and several off world cultures.

But then, Carter and even Teal'c joined in on it and were happy to make the occasional smartass remark. Sometimes it was Teal'c asking stoically if I needed to be carried to the bathroom. Other times, it was Carter dropping off extra jello on my meal trays. Frasier and a couple of the guys from other SG teams were even known to make smartass comments just out of earshot. I only let them all get away with it because I knew it was pretty harmless, but God help whomever decided if would be funny to leave that brochure for a retirement home sitting on my bed. I'm guessing it was Kawalsky since he had just been visiting but I couldn't prove it. Ferretti might have thought to try something like that but he was off world, so it couldn't have been him. I didn't think anyone else had the gall to try something like that other than those two.

Thankfully, things eventually passed back into a state of relative normality on base. When new discoveries were being made every week and new worlds became available for us to explore, even something as fantastic as a man rapidly aging and then de-aging in the span of a few weeks was considered little more than a passing curiosity.

With all of my other duties and responsibilities, I was still always happy to make the rounds around base and visit with the various departments to see what they were working on. And of course, I was always excited to see what sort of new and amazing technology the science teams were working to decipher or develop.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"Afternoon, sir," Cater said absentmindedly as she tinkered with a curved strip of metal on her desk.

I had decided to drop by since I knew Carter had recently been delivered a couple of items from the lab at Area 51 and was curious exactly what she was working on. I could have probably just pulled the manifest but I preferred to talk with Carter over reading the report. She'd happily explain everything I wanted to know and probably more. Nevertheless, I was happy to swing by for a chat.

"Afternoon, Carter," I replied to her greeting. "I hear you got a box of goodies from Nevada in the mail?"

"Yes, sir," Carter replied, sitting up and looking at me as she finished her bit of work with whatever the metal strip was. "Just running a check to make sure nothing was damaged in transit."

"Well don't keep me in suspense," I told her. "What is it and what does it do?"

"It's an early prototype for a new kind of helmet," Carter began in what I recognized as her lecture mode. "The technology is based off of the jaffa helmet you brought back and the ones we've picked up since then. It's possibly going to be a viable replacement for the standard combat helmets we use. Right now, it's mostly a demonstration of the technology."

I looked interestingly at the metal strip as I realized just what I was looking at. "Nice," I whistled. "Based off of the metal folding tech, I'm guessing. Any added features yet? Heads-up display or night vision?"

"Not yet," Carter said apologetically. "This is just meant to be a proof of concept device. Now that we know how to make it work and can replicate it ourselves, we can start figuring out how best to employ it for future R&D. There are a couple of ideas floating around, so a number of these are being passed around so everyone can get a crack at coming up with something. The SGC received three of them in total."

"Well, let's see it in action," I told her, gesturing to the helmet.

Carter reached behind the strip with a small metal pick and prodded something I couldn't see. A moment later, the helmet unfolded into its deployed state and I got a good look at it.

Cosmetically, it wasn't much. It looked fairly unremarkable with the blank metal segments and uncovered eye holes that allowed no protection and exposed the wearer's eyes to danger. I wasn't wearing it, so I couldn't tell if it was difficult to breath in there. However, it certainly looked like an unpolished prototype and I wasn't counting on comfort being anyone's concern when they were just trying to get it working. Honestly, it resembled the metal helmet used by Major West from the _Lost in Space_ movie. Barebones technology and an example of pure function over form. What made it so special was that it was human hands that had crafted this amazing little device.

"Cool," I admired.

"Sure is," Carter agreed. "I've got a couple of ideas to kick around and there's going to be a lot of testing but there's a lot of potential here."

"I'll say," I remarked, starting to get excited. "Imagine never having to worry about loosing your helmet or having to carry it in the field. I'm just picturing all the cool stuff we might incorporate into the helmets in the future too. Air filters, HUDs, communications gear, all sorts of cool stuff."

"That's…a lot of stuff, sir," Carter said hesitatingly. "I'm a long way off from those kinds of adjustments. Plus, there's the issue with the field of vision, the heating problem and all my other projects…"

"Nah, don't sweat it, Carter," I said reassuringly. "I'm just spit balling ideas here. 'Too many comics and video games growing up,' as an ex of mine would say. I'm not expecting miracles from you here. More than the usual ones, anyway."

Carter nodded sheepishly at my explanation. I knew that she was under considerable pressure to develop viable technologies and gadgets that we could use. All of the scientists were, actually. I didn't want to pile onto her workload with my own inane requests when she had her own projects to concern herself with and another scientist was just as likely to come up with something useful with these helmets as she was.

I could always just go bother one of them if the mood struck me.

"I get the materials being an issue," I began. "Since a helmet would have to be durable enough to be damage resistant. But what's this about a vision problem?"

"It's exactly how it sounds, sir," Carter replied. "It's too difficult trying to see out of the eye holes without compromising protection. It was suggested that miniature cameras be incorporated into the surface to project imagery onto the interior surface but it'll be awhile before we design and develop cameras small enough to do that. The heating problem is also exactly how it sounds. The helmet gets uncomfortably hot when worn for too long."

"Huh," I replied intelligently. "What about having different deployment settings? Like one that covers the back of the head and the scalp and another that deploys over the eyes? That would allow the mouth and nose to remain uncovered and leave it easier to breathe."

Carter looked intrigued at my suggestion and turned to contemplate the helmet that still sat on the work table. "You might be onto something there, sir," she remarked contemplatively. "Different settings for different circumstances...huh."

I waited patiently for a few more seconds until I realized Carter was totally lost in thought again. I politely cleared my throat to break her out of her self induced trance. Carter snapped out of it and returned her attention back to our conversation with a sheepish smile but I waved off any attempt at an apology before she could make it.

"So, what else are they heaping onto your plate?" I asked.

"Just working on the crystal computers and deciphering goa'uld engine tech," Carter answered. "Most everything else is either being handled by other departments or at Area 51. The crystal computers alone are giving everyone a headache since nobody seems sure how to build a workable interface and operating system compatible with that kind of hardware."

Carter tilted her head as she looked at me. "Unless you have another idea you'd like to offer…?" she asked leadingly.

I shrugged at that with a rather helpless shrug. "Sorry," I said. "I don't think my brand of genius works like that. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know."

"Please do, sir," Carter said. "You tend to have some frankly impressive insights from time to time."

"Only from time to time?" I asked archly.

Carter just smiled and shrugged in bemusement at my words and tone.

"See you at Daniel's briefing later?" I asked.

"Yes sir," she replied. "Sounds like he's got something interesting."

"We can always hope," I shrugged.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We were all gathered in the briefing room with General Hammond later that day. As it turned out, I was already acquainted with Daniel's new theory about the stargate. It was a fortunately brief and to the point explanation and everyone was able to catch on right away to what he was saying.

"Legend tells us that the god, Thor," Daniel began, zooming in on an ancient artistic representation with his laptop. "Was a friend to humans and protected them from the Etins. Beings of great power and knowledge who were the enemies of mankind. He used a weapon referred to as Mjolnir, Thor's magical hammer."

Daniel then changed the images on his computer with close up depictions of an ornate hammer carried by and being thrown by Thor.

"When Thor hurled the hammer, it supposedly produced thunder and lightning. Now, that could indicate some kind of advanced energy weapon as described by primitive man."

"So," I mused, leaning back in my chair at the table. "We might have a third party out there who are likely at least hostile to the goa'uld and could be potential allies."

"The question may be; how do we find them?" Carter asked.

"I have seen the hammer sign before," Teal'c suddenly mentioned. We all turned to look at him in surprise. "It is the symbol of a world called Cimmeria. All jaffa are taught the symbols for that world's stargate during their training."

"Why is that, Teal'c?" General Hammond asked.

"To ensure that no jaffa or goa'uld goes there," he answered. "It is forbidden. Something took place on Cimmeria that no goa'uld will speak of. Even after attaining the position of First Prime, I was never informed as to the reason. Few, if any jaffa knew what transpired there and none were willing to speak of it."

"Ominous," I commented. "But also promising. If there was nothing there because the planet had been blasted into ruin, the goa'uld would probably be bragging about it to their slaves to show off their power. That implies that there's still something there that the goa'uld are afraid of."

While I was speaking, I had turned to General Hammond. The words I had spoken accompanied with the look I was giving him made it clear what I was asking without saying what I was asking for.

"Alright," Hammond answered. "SG-Wolf, you have a go."

**~SG-WOLF~**

SG-Wolf stepped out of the stargate and arrived at Cimmeria. The area around the gate was in a small dirt clearing with forests and mountains visible in the distance. The area directly in front of the gate was dominated by a large stone pillar at least thirty feet high and had a large golden hammerhead shape at its top. Beside the base of the tower were a number of men in leather and hide clothing that were laughing and pointing at us.

"Not the first time this has happened to me," I remarked. "But the last time it did, I was in high school."

"Any idea what's got them so amused?" Carter asked confusedly.

Daniel seemed ready to offer a suggestion when a loud whining noise suddenly filled the air. The tower in front of us seemed to be the source and it was getting noticeably louder.

The locals started to chant, raising their fists into the air and yelling, "Thor! Thor! Thor!"

The pillar started to flash with blue light near its top. A blue beam suddenly came down, scanning all of us as we all tensed and stood ready for whatever happened next. The light shrank and seemed to disappear but I quickly noticed that it had instead stopped flashing over us and had instead narrowed and focused on Teal'c.

That seems to be my cue.

"Teal'c, move!" I yelled.

I dived at him to try and push him out of the way and was suddenly caught in the teleport that took us both away.

**~SG-WOLF~**

I groaned and rubbed my head as I stood up. Teal'c was already standing. Before they could speak to each other, another voice echoed in the dark room.

**"Welcome to the labyrinth."**

Teal'c and I quickly turned around and readied our weapons. What we were greeted with was the glowing image of a nine foot tall man. He was wearing classic Viking armor that was silver in color and carried a large golden hammer with a head large enough to likely crush bones with ease. Fortunately, I remembered that this was the default hologram that Thor liked to use. It wasn't going to hurt us but it was also fairly useless as well.

"**I am Thor. Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. The High Council of the Asgard has declared Cimmeria a safe world for the development of sentient species by unanimous decree era 40.73.29. "The System Lords were so informed,"** Thor informed admonishingly.

"Well, hello there," I say aloud, not expecting an answer. "We're not with the goa'uld. We're actually from a different world entirely. You might be familiar-"

**"You were warned not to come here,"** Thor said angrily. **"Under pain of death."**

"Hey," I tried again. "Could I get just a word in edgewise here? I'm Colonel Lennex MacDuff-"

**"For your crimes against the living host,"** Thor interrupted. **"And for all of those you have murdered and enslaved, the sentence is death."**

I slowly approached the viking giant and began to feel emboldened by its lack of reaction. As I stood before him, I reached out and pushed my hand into his torso. I was unsurprised when my hand passed right through him and revealed Thor to just be a hologram like I knew he would be.

**"This is your prison,"** Thor said, ignoring my actions. **"Your technology will not function here. You have no luxuries, no worshipers, no slaves to do your bidding. Only basic sustenance and time."**

"A prerecorded message," I said, turning to face Teal'c. "I suppose it would have been too easy to expect an actual person to be here. An automated defense system makes more sense if they're not expecting to deal with a major attack and just the occasional trespasser."

"Indeed," Teal'c intoned, still staring fixedly at the hologram of Thor.

**"When you tire of this existence,"** Thor continued. **"Go to the Hall of Mjolnir and face the hammer. There is no escape. Only the host can leave this place alive."**

With that, the hologram dissolved, leaving Teal'c and I standing alone in the cave.

"It seems as though I cannot leave this cave without my symbiote being killed," Teal'c intoned calmly.

"Yeah, by a hammer no less," I replied.

"You must leave without me, MacDuff." Teal'c informed me. "So long as I stay, I will remain safe."

"You'll forgive me if I don't let the answering machine dictate that," I told him. "You've got me here to help you out and Carter and Daniel and the whole SGC ready to back us up if we need it. Let's not give up on hope just yet, shall we?"

Teal'c regarded me calmly for a few moments as he took in my words, eventually giving a response.

"Indeed," he intoned in that famous way of his.

"Let's just find this hall and we'll figure things out from there," I suggested. "Carter and Daniel will be looking for us. We'll probably be improving their chances if we're hanging out near the exit."

We started walking through the stone corridors while searching for a way out. This place really lived up to its name as a labyrinth. Corridors stretched one after another between chambers, each seeming identical to the one that came before it.

We came across one chamber that was different in that it was composed mostly of a shallow pond. At its base, we found several gnarled skeletons of goa'uld symbiotes. Teal'c and I noted the teeth marks on the bones and I chalked it up to some kind of wild animal finding its way in and having an exotic meal on some old corpses. As I said this, I was keeping an eye out for any signs of that Unas that I new was probably lurking around somewhere. It hadn't made an appearance yet but I was waiting for it.

Some time later, we stopped for a few minutes in one of the empty chambers. I looked up at one of the lamps hanging from the ceiling and decided to put a theory to the test.

"Teal'c," I said, getting his attention. "Try taking a shot at that lamp up there with your staff weapon."

Teal'c complied and seemed unsurprised when his weapon gave a click and failed to fire.

"It would seem the message was correct that goa'uld technology will not work here," Teal'c commented, retracting his weapon.

"Yup," I remarked. I leveled my MP5 at the top of the lamp and fired a single shot. The shot flew true and severed the thin cord, dropping the lamp to the ground with a crash.

"It would seem that your Earth weapons are considered too primitive to be affected by the same technology in this place that renders my staff powerless," Teal'c noted, raising an eyebrow at the now destroyed lamp.

"Lucky for us," I commented. I passed Teal'c a couple of extra magazines for his sidearm, which he accepted.

We continued walking through the cave for a while longer. It wasn't long until we reached a new chamber and came to a stop when we heard a loud growling noise and saw an ominous shadow coming around a corner.

"What in the hell-?" I said as the Unas came around the corner. He was a big bastard. About seven feet tall and covered in rags that were patched with parts of clearly different clothing. Even beneath those rags, I could see that this bastard was big and still pretty muscular. He had a ring of horns around his jawline and scalp, giving him an incredibly menacing appearance. It's yellow, reptilian eyes glared at us and me particularly in a way I really didn't like.

"Jaffa," the Unas said in a strange accent. "I am Unas, a first one."

"You should not be here," Teal'c said in a tone I would almost describe as fearful. I couldn't really blame him since this thing was really freaking me out too. What it said next certainly didn't help.

"Kill this human and we shall feast on his bones," the Unas said with his eyes glowing yellow, showing me that it was definitely being controlled by a goa'uld.

"Excuse you?" I asked incredulous. I get that this thing was probably eating any stray goa'uld that came through here but was it so deranged that it thought that people here less than a day would immediately resort to cannibalism?

"Kill the slave," the Unas said, ignoring me. "So that we can eat. I command it!"

"I no longer serve the goa'uld," Teal'c informed him boldly. The Unas seemed taken aback by this and then growled inarticulately at us while he began stalking forward. I raised my MP5 at it and took aim as Teal'c pulled out his sidearm. The Unas seemed to recognize them as weapons based on how we pointed them but it didn't seem to deter him at all.

"Weapons are of no use here," the beast scoffed before charging at us.

I didn't waste time with precise shots or with conserving my ammo. I unloaded a long burst of fire on full auto at the Unas and Teal'c emptied his own sidearm into the creature's chest.

The Unas screamed in surprise and fear as our fire tore right through him. Blue blood erupted from his torso as his charge was halted and he stumbled back into the wall of the chamber. The Unas grew quiet and still as it slumped against the wall and fell to the floor.

Teal'c and I stood there watching the Unas in case it got back up. However when the creature didn't so much as twitch, we walked closer to inspect the body. He certainly looked dead and a closer inspection by Teal'c seemed to only confirm it when the creature didn't even react to being touched.

"It is dead," Teal'c informed me gravely.

"Call me paranoid," I replied. "But I'd rather not take a chance. Step back for a sec, I want to check for myself."

Teal'c looked to me for a moment before rising to his feet and taking a step back from the Unas. With him out of the way, I raised my MP5 again and pointed right between the creature's reptilian eyes. I fired twice.

Blue blood and some grey matter poured out of the new hole in the Unas's head as Teal'c and I stood over him. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I didn't want this damn thing coming back to life and hunting us down later. This place was a maze and I didn't want this bastard to get the opportunity to lurk behind a dark corner and jump us when we least expected it.

"I concur with your diagnosis, Dr. Teal'c," I told him, readjusting my weapon. "He certainly seems dead to me. Let's get walking."

With that, Teal'c and I set off to find the exit, leaving the large, dead, and leaking reptile behind us.

**~SG-WOLF~**

It was only about a half hour after that when Teal'c and I found the exit. Recognizing that the large hammer shaped doorway was likely somewhat significant, I stuck next to Teal'c and emphasized caution. Teal'c took one step under the hammer before a red energy field activated and he was suddenly in great pain. Anticipating this, I quickly pushed him back and out of the way of the hammer's influence. Teal'c recovered fairly quickly from the sudden bout of intense pain and again suggested that I leave him behind. I told him we would wait there a bit longer and to stop suggesting I leave him because I had no intention of doing so.

I then tried my radio and found the jamming effect of the labyrinth was still working where we were at. So, I stepped out of the cave and hung out near the entrance. My radio worked fine after that and I managed to get in touch with Carter and Daniel. They informed me that they had a guide that was taking them to the cave and that they should be there shortly. I told them not to worry but that we would need their help to get Teal'c out, so we couldn't come to them. After that, I rejoined Teal'c by the hammer to inform him that help was on the way.

It wasn't too long until Carter and Daniel showed up with their guide in tow. Kendra was a beautiful woman who seemed surprised to see us waiting for them. She was even more surprised when I told her that Teal'c and I killed the Unas that was living in the labyrinth. Daniel excitedly explained that Kendra was a former host and that she was living proof that the hammer device worked.

I nodded along and made all the right sounds as I examined the hammer and the wall next to it. A wide passage ran along a thick stone wall and led right to the exit Kendra had opened for us. I nodded and smiled to myself as I realized my idea was going to work just fine. It was now time to employ it.

"Carter, about how far away would you say this cave is from the stargate?" I asked.

"About four or five miles," she replied. "I can't be sure since we got a bit lost on the way up here but that's my rough guess."

"Well, it's not ideal," I said. "But it's manageable. I want you to head back and get an engineering team and probably some kind of litter team to carry a body as well."

"Sir?" Carter responded confusedly.

"I've got an idea that I need you to carry back to Hammond," I told her.

**~SG-WOLF~**

It took the better part of the local night but Teal'c and I were walking out of the Hall of Mjolnir by morning. However, due to time differences between our worlds, it was already the early evening on Earth by the time we got back.

"Simply put, the hammer device is way too valuable to the people of this world for us to just destroy it and move on," I explained. "There's no telling when the actual Thor will return and I'd rather it not be to find out that we wrecked the defenses he set up. Teal'c couldn't leave through the opening without dying, so we needed some guys with jackhammers and digging equipment to dig a hole in the side of this wall and let us squeeze out. Filling it in after we were out was a fairly simple matter."

Hammond and I were sitting in his office as I rounded out my debriefing with him. It was a fortunately informal matter. I was able to shower and shave before reporting and was actually wearing civilian clothes. Hammond, good guy that he is, told me that he understood that I had a long day and didn't mind. Just that he wanted me to stop by his office for a bit to get some of the details from me firsthand before I went home for the night.

"That was good work, colonel," Hammond complimented. "I appreciate your forethought on this matter. The hammer device could be an invaluable asset in the future. Its hardly the most convenient option but beggars can't be choosers. And we didn't have to really give up anything for it either. At least unless the actual Thor or his people return and decide to take offense."

"Well, it's not like we broke the thing on our way out," I noted. "In fact, according to the engineering expert I spoke to on site, the concrete filling we put into the wall is actually stronger than the stone we broke. Plus, I'm sure Thor and the locals are grateful that we killed the 'monster' living in the labyrinth. One look at that thing had that Garwyn woman thanking us for the service we'd done her and her people by killing the thing."

"I imagine they'll all be sleeping better knowing that thing's dead," Hammond agreed. "Speaking of which, I'll have to remember to check in with Dr. Frasier and her xenobiology team in the morning. They're eager to cut into that Unas creature as soon as possible."

"I'll be skipping breakfast in anticipation of being invited to attend the dissection," I joked. "Call me weird, but I'm amused by the idea of viewing the creature that wanted to eat me being laid out on a slab."

"You're weird," Hammond told me. We both had a short laugh at his remark.

"I'll be sure to drop off the written report in the next day...or two," I told Hammond. "You need anything else from me tonight?"

"No, colonel," Hammond told me, rising to his feet. "Go on home and get a good night's rest. We can talk more tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir," I replied coming to my own feet. I shook his hand and wished him goodnight. It really had been a long day.

**~SG-WOLF~**

As I got into my car, I smiled to myself as I thought about the Sagan Box we had left with Garwyn to give to Thor in case he came back. I had actually been impressed when I had seen it for myself. It was a nice little good will message to Thor and the Asgard even if it mostly contained information I was sure they already knew about the people of Earth.

What nobody else knew was that I had taken the opportunity to slip a little note inside the box when nobody was looking. Things are and would continue to change as time went on. With the hammer still active on Cimmeria, I had no idea what would happen when the invasion by Heru'ur was supposed to take place. The box probably wouldn't be sent to Earth to signal for our help and we might never have the opportunity to reach the communicator hidden there to contact Thor. Ingratiating humanity and Earth to the Asgard was critical to the future I wanted to bring about.

So, I had decided to take a risk. I had left a note buried in the Sagan Box beneath the recordings and pictures. Something Thor might read one day if he got his hands on the box and its contents. I couldn't risk the goa'uld getting their hands on it, so I wrote it in a language I was confident the goa'ud would never be able to translate; Esperanto.

Since I knew Esperanto was an artificial language created well after the goa'uld left Earth, it was incredibly unlikely they would be able to translate it, let alone derive any meaning from it. Hell, it was unlikely that Thor would even get a hold of the note. But as events began to shift further away from what I knew, I would have to start taking greater risks to achieve a better outcome. Future knowledge would only help me for so long. It was why I believed it so essential to get everything off to as good a start as possible before what I knew became useless in the different galaxy I was in.

The note had read:

_Thor,_

_La Taŭri paŝas tra la stargatejo. Ili ekscitas renkonti vin kaj diskuti pri la estonteco de nia galaksio._

_Ne petu, kiu mi estas. Mi prezentos min al vi eventuale. Kio gravas, ni komencas labori kune kontraŭ ambaŭ niaj malamikoj. Homaro kaj Asgard kune povas solvi multajn el niaj problemoj. Provu uzi kinetikan armilon kontraŭ la Replikantoj._

_De,_

_Amiko_

Translated to modern English, it meant:

_Thor,_

_The Tau'ri are stepping through the stargate. They are excited to meet you and discuss the future of our galaxy._

_Do not ask for who I am. I will introduce myself to you eventually. What matters is we start working together against both of our enemies. Humanity and the Asgard together can solve many of our problems. __Try using kinetic weaponry against the Replicators._

_From,_

_A Friend_

As much as I was patting myself on the back for what I saw as a clever failsafe, I just hoped I hadn't shot myself in the foot by leaving that note. These thoughts and worries occupied my mind the whole drive back to my house.

**AN: So, we're starting to diverge more from canon at last. We've got new technologies coming down the line and Thor's Hammer remains intact. It's understandable that O'Neill originally destroyed it to free Teal'c but in my story, we're seeing the SGC exploit more of their military resources to circumvent problems. Having a team of engineers and handymen around can account for a lot in overcoming the walls in the team's way. Also, let's not forget that the dead Unas is some biologist's wet dream made manifest. An alien lizard-man with a long lifespan and regenerative abilities, freshly killed and ready to be thrown on a slab to be examined. Even riddled with bullets, it's a treasure trove of information.**

**I know a lot of my readers have been disappointed by the pacing and have wanted more originality, so I'm glad we're finally hitting the big changes. I also decided to skip a couple of extra parts in this chapter and in the next few chapters that didn't really add much to the stories. It got this chapter out more quickly and got me closer to finishing the next two chapters as well.**

**We should be seeing some more changes hitting over the next few chapters. I hope you guys like how I handled Tantalus and Hathor!**

**As always, I'm happy to read your reviews!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 16: It Might Have Been Torture, But At Least The Company Was Good

While I hadn't been paying attention, Daniel had apparently managed to acquire the box of old records about early experiments with the stargate. I walked in on him using one of the media rooms as an impromptu film lab and reading room. He had one of the guys from the tech department come by and help set up one of those old-fashioned film projectors and showed him how to change the reels out between viewings. That was what had actually drawn my attention in the first place. I had been walking down one of the corridors when an airman passed by me carrying a film projector and told me it was for 'Dr. Jackson's new research.'

He had been going over some of the files and I had joined him for a few minutes while he had been watching film reels of the original stargate experiments conducted by the US Army. We had both been damn surprised when we saw the footage of one of the scientists putting on a diving suit and stepping through a clearly active stargate.

It was only two days later that Daniel came back with Catherine in tow, who graciously explained what she knew about the original project her father had been working on. Hammond wasn't too thrilled to have Catherine around since she was a civilian who was no longer contracted with the military or the government. His first concern was about Daniel likely breaching the secrecy of the new stargate program. However, I managed to placate him a bit by reminding him that she did have the necessary NDAs signed, that she was actually responsible for us having the stargate at all and for recruiting most of the original civilian scientists and doctors that studied the stargate under the original, including Daniel.

So thankfully, Catherine showing up wasn't too big of a fuss once I clarified who she was to the general. What was a surprise was that Carter apparently knew her also. During her studies of the gate and devising a dialing program, Carter had apparently been a regular presence at Cheyanne Mountain before I had shown up. It was her completion of a dialing computer that brought her back to the Pentagon rather than leaving her here at the mountain for when the original Abydos mission happened. Her expertise was deemed too valuable to leave her here when she could be working elsewhere.

In the end, things went pretty much as had expected. We received permission to go on a rescue/recovery operation for Ernest Littlefield and for Catherine to accompany us since she was probably the closest thing to family the man had left and would likely be able to identify remains if any were found. And it didn't hurt that SG-Wolf seemed very accepting of the idea.

Before we left, I decided it was time for a little chat with Catherine.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Catherine asked.

Catherine had just been handed a set of BDUs in her size for the mission. We couldn't very well have her running around looking like she didn't belong and it's never a bad thing to make sure one's clothes are particularly durable when one is about to set off for a bit of adventure. Honestly, I was just glad Catherine didn't need a bag of medication to come along with her. Doc Frasier had cleared her for gate travel and now that she looked the part, we were making sure she had just a few of the essentials stashed away in her vest, even if she wasn't going to be hauling anything heavy like the rest of us.

A full canteen and a few power bars can go a long way. And don't forget the flashlight.

"I thought it important that we have a quick chat about what we might be seeing on the other side before we go through," I told her. "It's important that some things are made clear."

"I really hope this isn't the speech you give to your new recruits, colonel," Catherine said, amusement coloring her tone.

I laughed a bit. "Nah, that one's much scarier," I told her with a grin. "You get the 'Friends & Family' version. I'm talking about us finding Ernest."

Catherine's face sobered at my words. "What are you getting at?" she asked.

"Are you prepared for what we might find?" I asked her seriously.

"I'm not a child, Lennex," Catherine chided me. "I'm well aware that we're likely bringing back remains, if anything. It's sad and it'll hurt. But I like to think I'm old enough to handle it."

"Remains is the most likely possibility," I confirm, nodding. "It's been half a century. But are you prepared that he's still there? That he's still stranded and has managed to survive?"

"Surly, you don't think so?" Catherine asked, surprised by my words. "After all this time?"

"First of all; my name's not Shirley," I tell her with a wry smile. She rolled her eyes at my joke, but that's how I knew she was amused by it.

"Secondly;" I begin. "We can't rule out the possibility. We see weird and amazing things around here all the time. I think it's important that we prepare for the possibility, no matter how unlikely."

Catherine was silent for a long moment at that. I could see the emotions play across her face as she considered the possibility and just how painful it might be.

"What I'm trying to say," I told her. "Is that helping him will be more important than anything else if that's the case. It's been a long time since he became isolated from everything and everyone he knew. Whatever has changed since then or whatever his reaction, it'll be important to be as patient and understanding with him as possible. At least for now. Conversations about uncomfortable truths and harsh realities that life goes on can wait until we all come home. Can we agree on that at least?"

Catherine remained silent as she stood up. She turned to me, zipped up the black combat vest she had been issued and stared me down with eyes that gave off a steely look of determination. "I'm ready," she told me simply. I nodded to her in turn, understanding the meanings of her statement.

"Before we go," I said, holding up my hand to tell her to wait a moment. "You'll need one final piece of gear."

"I do?" Catherine asked, looking down at the vest and BDU she was wearing as if to find where she might be missing something.

"Yes you do," I confirmed. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a brand new velcro patch and handed it to her.

Up until recently, SG teams had gotten by on the standard patches that came with their uniforms that identified their branch and unit. All of them were from their original units and were of course, accompanied by the US Flag patch on the right shoulder. Someone had argued that if our exploration teams were going to be representing the Earth when they ventured through the stargate, it would be good if they had a patch that represented not any one nation, but the entire Earth. A globe was initially suggested but rejected in favor of the symbol for Earth on the stargate symbology chart.

This one was for SG-Wolf. It had the official lettering for our unit across the top outer edge saying 'SG-01' on it in silvery lettering with a black background. Below that was depicted the silvery head and mane of a wolf from a side profile outlined in black. Below that, in bold silvery lettering was the single word; WOLF.

It was a bit simple in design, but I couldn't help but feel a jolt of pride when I held the bundle of them in my hand for the first time. Each of the team leaders got their own version, from Dragon to Raven to Stag. As the leader of SG-Wolf, it was my responsibility to hold onto and hand these out to my teammates.

"If you're coming with us, you'll need to look the part," I told her as she took the patch. "Can't have you exploring strange new worlds without something that tells people who you're with. Consider yourself an honorary Wolf."

Catherine gave me a winning smile as she applied the patch to her shoulder.

**~SG-WOLF~**

As we exited the gate, we were greeted with a dilapidated ruin. A large temple like room with aged stone and clear signs of neglect everywhere we looked. The stone was damp in certain areas where it had clearly been worn away by the ravages of time and had allowed rain and condensation to leak inside. A bit of natural light made it into the room so that we didn't have to use flashlights but it was still rather dim, even though from the few openings we could see it was clearly a bright day outside.

These less than exciting surroundings certainly didn't seem to detract from Catherine's enjoyment of the experience.

"You do this often?" Catherine asked us in amazement.

"A few times a week, sometimes," Daniel told her.

"Amazing!" she responded, looking back at the now deactivated stargate.

"That's just the opening act," I tell her, smiling. "The real excitement starts once we get there."

Our current surroundings didn't seem to really support my last statement. We were in a large darkened stone room that I imagine looked magnificent one upon a time, but was now crumbling and suffering from obvious neglect. Large sections of pillars and even the ceiling were laying around where they had fallen, likely many years ago. Sunlight entered the chamber, illuminating or surroundings just fine, but the place had a decidedly gloomy look to it given the dark color of the stonework.

"Well, this place has definitely seen better days," I remarked.

"The architecture appears at least somewhat sturdy if uncared for," Daniel commented. "Perhaps ancient Greek in design? I'd need to see more before making any accurate comparisons."

"Some of this debris looks like it was piled up at some point, although I can't tell exactly when that occurred," Carter chimed in, examining a small pile of broken stones that looked to have been piled into the corner and out of the way. "Doesn't look like it occurred naturally. Someone would have probably had to do it by hand."

"Got it," I told her. "Let's keep an eye out then. No telling where Littlefield is or if he's still around here."

Just as I finished saying that, a very old and very naked Ernest Littlefield walked around the corner and gaped at us from one of the entrances to the chamber.

"Or, maybe he'll come out and say hello," I corrected myself.

Ernest Littlefield looked pretty damn good considering his age and circumstances. Bent over with age but still standing and walking on his own power, he certainly looked to be in better health than one might expect for a castaway left stranded in a ruin for more than half a century. While bald, thin and nude, he didn't appear overly emaciated or in bad health. Despite what must have been a serious lack of medical care, he appeared to be in pretty damn good shape. I didn't think he would look at all out of place in a retirement home or relaxing at a resort once we got him home.

Slowly, Ernest walked into the room. I don't think any of us quite knew what to say to the man while we saw his reaction to our presence. Coming up to me, likely because I was the closest to him, he reached out an arm and touched me. At first, it was just a tap. Like he expected there to be nothing there at all. When he reached out a second time, he ran his hand carefully down the sleeve of my BDU. He brought his other hand up slowly and grasped my other arm as he just kept staring at me in amazement. Not just amazed that I was there, but that I was also _real._

I found myself at something of a loss for what to say to the man in this moment. I fell back on to what I had been thinking about saying before we came here, otherwise I might not have had anything to say at all.

"It's alright, Ernest," I told him as gently as I could. "We're really here. We've come to bring you home."

The dam within Ernest finally seemed to break at that as he stopped holding himself back. Tears began pouring from his eyes as he lurched forward the rest of the distance between us and hugged me with all the strength his elderly muscles could manage. He gave several incoherent gasps as he held onto me. As if he were trying to form words but wasn't able to.

I held him upright as he leaned heavily into me. He would have certainly knocked me over had he been bigger and had caught me unawares. As it was, I found myself supporting the elderly man's weight against me as kept choking out his gratitude in barely intelligible words.

Once he was done hugging me, he leaned up and kissed my cheek while crying joyfully. He then went to and did the same to the rest of SG-Wolf, much to my private amusement. Teal'c's eyebrow was raised so high, it looked like it was now a part of his scalp. Daniel was, of course, all awkward platitudes which I'm not sure Ernest even hears over his own joy. Carter manages a somewhat graceful dodge of a hug from the still-nude man and turned it into a very enthusiastic handshake instead.

Then, Ernest turned and saw Catherine.

"Ca-Catherine?" Ernest asked in a wondering tone of voice. It was as if he couldn't believe it.

Catherine appeared to be overcome by emotion herself. She didn't speak. But with tears forming in her eyes, she smiled and nodded to Ernest. She was really here.

"Hmm," Ernest hummed before turning and walking away. All of us were left standing in the gate room in surprise at his sudden departure.

"All these years and that's it?" Catherine asked, now shedding tears for another reason.

"Let me try to talk to him," Daniel offered, following after Ernest.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daniel spoke with Ernest for several minutes in another chamber while the rest of us took a look around. Daniel came out several minutes later with a now clothed Ernest Littlefield in tow. It looked like a large smock like the one a painter would wear like a gown over his own clothes. It took me a moment to identify it as the tattered remnant of the clunky diving suit he had worn when he first came through the stargate.

We all sat down after that and Ernest explained to us that he was sorry for his behavior. He hadn't seen another person in so long, he had given up on ever seeing another human again, let aloe his old fiancee. He had thought she was a hallucination. Ernest admitted with some shame in his tone that it wouldn't have been the first time he had imagined Catherine was here with him. All of us were quick to assure him that he had nothing to be ashamed about. Even Catherine, who I noticed seemed hard for Ernest to look at without becoming emotional again.

"I can't begin to imagine how alone you've been all these years," I told him. "I'm so sorry for what's happened to you, Dr. Littlefield."

"But I wasn't alone," Ernest replied.

We all looked confused at the old man's words. I started wondering if he was referring to an imaginary companion he created for himself to talk to, like Catherine or Wilson the volleyball from _Cast Away_. I felt pity swell up in me at the idea.

"Ernest, what do you mean?" Catherine asked gently.

"It's about that time," Ernest said mysteriously. "Let's go outside and see."

We all followed Ernest outside of the stone structure and past several more ruined chambers. As we came outside, I saw that we were now in a large courtyard with several stone walls around us. Behind us, I could see the remnants of several large towers that I'm sure it had once looked magnificent and proud. However, like the interior, age had not been kind to them. Left exposed to the elements, this large castle-like structure had been broken by the elements many times over. The whole place looked like it was in such a sorry state, it was barely habitable anymore.

"So..." I began. "What exactly are we waiting for here?"

"My student," Ernest answered.

We all waited for him to elaborate further. After a few moments, it became apparent that he wasn't going to.

"Dr. Littlefield," Daniel began gently. "Is this someone you met while you were here or..."

Ernest shook his head and pointed towards the other end of the courtyard. "You can see for yourselves," he told us. "I don't think you would believe me unless you saw one for yourselves."

A moment later, Ernest Littlefield's 'student' turned the corner of one of the crumbling walls and came into sight.

The being that came out from behind the fallen wall was unlike anything any of us had seen before. At first, the sky blue coloring was all I could notice. Then, its four hooved feet made me think it was some kind of horse or deer. Then, I saw that instead of a horse's or deer's head, there was a torso. A very human-like torso but with a different and almost elongated rib structure, topped by a humanoid head. Two shoulders connected to long arms with delicate fingers at the end of its hands. A long tail revealed itself as the creature stepped forward, further showing a large, sharp, almost scythe like bone growth at the end of its tail. I had no desire to test how fast or sharp that wicked looking blade was.

It had no mouth. A smooth patch fur covered where one would usually be and the fur was too short to be concealing a mouth unless it was just exceptionally well hidden. Its elfin like ears were rounded and swept back and aligned to the sides of its skull. The nose was oval shaped and seemed to have six pink nostrils that sat below almost human-shaped eyes. Atop the creature's head were what looked like dull horns. That was until one saw them twitch and move and it was revealed that the ends of those 'horns' had another set of movable eyes, giving the creature perfect 360-degree vision.

Carter, Daniel and probably Ernest and Catherine equated the creature's appearance with the myths of centaurs from Earth. Immediately, I equated it with something else. An image from my own childhood that reminded me of loaning a certain series of books from the library and reading about the adventures of a group of teenagers who, coincidentally, were also fighting alien parasites that infested the minds of people and took them over.

_'Is that a fucking Andalite?!'_

Working through my shock of recognizing the specter from my childhood, I stood in shock with the rest of my team as the alien creature approached us.

_"You come at last. It is as he hoped. I greet you in the name of my people. I am Sal-Rar." _

All of us jerked in surprise as we heard the being speak. It wasn't that his voice was shocking or that he was speaking to us. It was that we could hear it in our _heads_.

"Did anyone else...?" Carter asked in a shaky tone.

"Yeah," I confirmed. My voice was quiet as I processed this.

"So, it's not just me?" Daniel asked, breathless.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, his own tone quiet and wondrous.

Catherine, probably much less accustomed to our level of weirdness, stood there in open mouthed shock.

**~SG-WOLF~**

We were all sitting on the stone steps surrounding the entrance. Ernest had asked us to be seated as he offered to explain what was going on and assured us that we weren't having our minds read or anything. We all listened with rapt attention as Ernest told us his story.

"I wasn't sure what to make of them when I first saw them," he started. "I thought they might be the aliens who built this place but the design of this place along with their own seeming lack of advanced technology seemed to suggest they were just the indigenous species that evolved naturally."

_"We have long been confused by these stones,"_ Sal-Rar explained. _"No Andalite could have built it. No one has memory of when or how this place came to be. When Ernest first appeared one day, we were startled and curious. We thought he might be one of the ones who built it and had returned. Many of us were scared of what that could mean and stayed away. My family were among those who did not flee."_

"How are you doing that?" Carter asked eagerly. "Communicating with us? Are you telepathic?"

Sal-Rar looked confused in how to answer and turned to look at Ernest.

"Not technically," Ernest explained. "I thought they might be at first. But as time went on, I realized they couldn't communicate with me that way or with other animals. They can only do it to each other. It's like broadcasting over a radio frequency but the person listening only has a receiver. He can't hear anything on the other end without the right equipment. I made notes about it in my journals. I called it thought-speak."

I listened with rapt attention and was processing the uncanny nature of the situation. Was this...was it one of the differences suggested by the Man? What else could be different? From what little I remembered of those short adventure books, there were cosmic beings, time travel shenanigans and utterly bizarre technologies. Was that true for here as well?

Could...could these people develop morphing technology one day? How advanced were they now?

"You have more journals?" Daniel asked eagerly.

"Several, actually. I recorded as much as I could with the notebooks I brought with me," Ernest explained. "I had hoped that someone would find them someday."

It didn't escape me how he said he hoped someone would find them. Not that he would be able to give them to someone.

"Are Sal-Rar and his people the reason for your survival?" Teal'c asked.

"Sal-Rar had not even been born when I first came here," Ernest informed us. "His family took years to warm up to me enough to communicate with me. I was shocked beyond words when they first tried to talk to me. I thought I had finally gone mad. Over time, we began to establish a dialogue. Their way of speaking doesn't always translate perfectly but we managed. Once he was old enough, his parents would bring him here to talk to me too. He was first my student as I taught him things and then my friend as he helped me gather food and firewood once I was a bit too old to do it easily myself."

"You taught him?" Daniel asked.

Ernest nodded. "And the others. They don't have cities or universities here. Most knowledge is passed down from elders to the children. I taught them about things like the weather patterns, about physics and about some natural sciences. Before long, others started to come here and they shared my knowledge with others. They were all grateful whenever they visited but Sal-Rar's family always kept close. They took good care of me."

_"It was our family-duty to do so,"_ Sal-Rar responded. _"Teacher has lived here since before I was born. Before he became Teacher, he was He-Who-Is-Of-Two-Legs. He has since been helping our people for many seasons with his knowledge. Many years."_

"'He-Who-Is-Of-Two-Legs?'" I repeated aloud. "Is that what they call you?"

Ernest hummed in thought for a moment before answering. "In the early days," he eventually responded. "When I was trying to teach them to communicate with my speech, it was difficult. I wasn't quite sure how to explain spoken language to a people who didn't speak but still could hear me. Before I taught them my name, they had revealed what they called me. They talked to each other about me and had no idea what to call me other than that. Eventually, I became something of a local legend. A mysterious creature that lived in a strange place and held great knowledge. I felt like a wizard," Ernest chuckled at that.

_'So, not an especially advanced people,'_ I thought to myself. Not that I held that against them, but it was important to establish that. If Ernest was teaching them things with his 1940's western education, then they probably hadn't developed spaceflight Which meant they probably weren't going to be particularly strong allies at the moment against the goa'uld. I soon found myself trying to recall anything and everything I could about the species but it admittedly wasn't much. The series hadn't stayed very popular after the book series ended and the TV show flopped. I considered myself fortunate to even remember the distinctive appearance and traits of the species.

"That's absolutely incredible," Daniel said excitedly. "Living among a non-human species is something anthropologists can only dream of! The things you must've seen and experienced...I can only image! It's the opportunity of a lifetime!"

"It was," Ernest said simply, looking down at his own answer.

I shot Daniel a look. For someone so brilliant at times, he could really put his foot in his mouth at other times.

We all turned our heads at the rumble of thunder. Earlier, we could all see dark clouds on the horizon once we stepped outside. Now, those clouds seemed to have gotten darker, closer and the rumble of thunder hinted at this being more than a light afternoon shower. It had the look of a hurricane.

"That storm's looking pretty serious," Carter remarked. "Maybe we should head inside?"

"Agreed," I said, standing up. "Is it safe to stay here with that storm coming down on us?"

"They happen this time of year," Ernest shrugged. "I stay deeper inside the castle when they do. Time is having its effect on this place. Many of the walls facing the cliffs and even the ground under them have been worn away over the years."

_"We have tried to tell him to leave this place,"_ Sal-Rar informed us. _"It is dangerous here now that the stone is beginning to crumble away. He has refused."_

"I just could never bring myself to let it go," Ernest told us with a bit of sadness in his voice. "It has been my home for many years. At first, it was my hope that someone would come through. That they would reopen the doorway. After awhile, I guess I just got too used to being here."

I felt my heart clench as I heard Ernest speak. Half a century stuck here without human contact. How many years was it before he could speak with the Andalites? Humans were meant to be social creatures by our evolution. Could the Andalites have filled that void for companionship in his life? People committed suicide from that kind of isolation. They lost their minds in that kind of isolation.

"...And then there was the matter of the mystery of this place," I heard Ernest finish.

That got my attention back. "What mystery are you talking about? The stargate? The...ring device?" I asked, already thinking about the hologram projector that I remembered from the original episode.

"No," Ernest said. He stood up. "I can show you."

**~SG-WOLF~**

Together and being led by Ernest, we all ventured further into the 'castle' as he called it. Sal-Rar had followed us with careful steps as we went a short ways into the castle and down another set of wide, winding steps that seemed to go underground like a basement. This place really wasn't designed for someone of his physiology but it became apparent that he had experience walking these steps as each of his hooved feet seemed to always land just right to keep from stumbling.

We came to a stop at a widening in the stairway, almost like an antechamber or a smaller room before a larger one. On the other side of it and several feet away was a large metal door which contrasted a bit with all of the ancient looking stone around us. It was wide and tall like a garage door and its surface was smooth, showing the quality of the metal that had went into its construction. Nevertheless, dust had accumulated over the surface, only broken in areas that looked to have been cleared by human hands. I assumed Ernest had occasionally come down here to meddle with the door for whatever reason.

Shuffling over the floor, more intact and less weathered than the one on the level above it, Ernest walked up to the center of the door. He reached out and placed his hand over the door's surface.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a low rumble filled the passageway as we all tensed at the sound. Then, very slowly, the metal door parted in the middle and opened to us.

"This was what I spent much of my spare time with while I was here," Ernest told us as the door finished opening and he stepped inside.

Soft lighting flickered on and revealed a great rounded room. Time had taken its toll on this place as well, although not as badly as the rest of the structure above us. The room was dusty and the stone had clearly crumbled in a few areas. However, we all gazed in wonder at what we saw.

It reminded me of the various depictions of the Jedi Council Chamber I'd seen in movies and games. The high domed ceiling left the room with a very open feeling, despite being underground. The room seemed designed into four distinct segments with supports for the walls coming up from the floor and stretching along the ceiling to the peak of the dome. Instead of windows, there were large stone slabs that were covered in alien writing. The writing changed depending on which corner it was in but none of it was familiar to us. I surmised that it was the written languages of the four great races that came here but I had no more idea of what it said than any of my companions.

"This is...really something," Daniel said, genuine wonder in his voice. He kept turning his head between the slabs excitedly as he tried to take it all in at once. "What is this place?"

"Heliopolis," Ernest answered, walking ahead of the rest of us.

Ernest drew all of our attention to the center of the room. Standing there was a pedestal. Sal-Rar followed behind him at his gesture and they both stood over it.

The pedestal was a matte grey coloring and came up to about waist height. It was capped by a large orange dome that looked similar to the one on every DHD. Surrounding it all along the outer edge were smaller triangular crystals of the same color.

Then Ernest gestured for Sal-Rar to reach forward and touch the device. Sal-Rar extended one of his hands and pressed against something I couldn't quite see from where I was. What happened next was truly impressive.

Orange and yellow light streamed out of the large dome at the top of the device. It flowed like water, up and into the air above us, nearly touching the ceiling. The light condensed into different shapes and began to form distinctive images after only a moment. Orange balls floated between each other and rotated slowly as smaller blue dots traveled around them and bounced between the different orange ones.

"Incredible!" Carter exclaimed. "It must take an incredibly advanced processor to generate holograms like this in the room! And with only the one projector and no noticeable light diffusion between-"

"Carter," I said, halting her commentary. It was endearing how excited she could get over new technology but honestly, she'd keep going until someone stopped her.

"Any ideas on what this all means?" I asked, gesturing around us at the floating images.

"If this was some sort of gathering place for different alien races then I imagine this has to mean something," Daniel said.

_"I have only the smallest understanding of this,"_ Sal-Rar said. _"Ernest has shown it to me many times and knows it far better. He knew what many of them meant and tried to explain it to me once I was old enough and far enough in my lessons. I think only a few others have seen it besides me or my family. Even if we do not understand it, it is beautiful."_

"It certainly is," Catherine agreed.

"I think I recognize this one," I said finally. I pointed to the simple hydrogen atom right above my head. I was shocked when the hologram seemed to snap into stillness when I pointed to it and floated down to sit just above my hand.

"How did you do that?" Carter asked, coming closer to look at the hologram.

"I'm...not sure," I honestly replied. That was more than I was expecting to happen. "I just pointed to it because I thought I recognized what it was depicting."

"Of course!" Catherine chimed in, also coming closer to examine the image. "High school chemistry!"

"One proton, one electron," Carter added, realizing what she was looking at and not just examining the how. "Hydrogen! And over there I can see magnesium and fluorine!"

"Silver, iron, barium, xenon," Ernest added, gesturing to the holograms and summoning them to his hands as he pulled them from the air.

"My God," Catherine breathed, looking at him. "There's so many electrons, how could you tell so quickly?"

"I've been here a very long time, remember?" Ernest said, smiling.

_"And there's more you can do with them,"_ Sal-Rar added.

Ernest then seemed to pass the electrons to Sal-Rar, who took them into his hands and started doing something amazing. He began to push the holograms together and before our very eyes created a new chemical combination. I was no chemistry expert so I had no idea what he had created or if it was a real substance, but it was clear that the four elements had become one.

"After me, Sal-Rar has probably spent the most time in here interacting with this device," Ernest explained as Sal-Rar lifted the substance he created into the air, sending it to float amidst the other elements.

"The whole periodic table is depicted here?" Daniel asked.

"One hundred forty-six in total," Ernest said.

"There are currently only one hundred eleven elements on the periodic table," Carter remarked in surprise.

"And it was only ninety when I last checked," Ernest replied.

"Absolutely incredible," Catherine said. "Four distinct alien races but they all could come up with and decide how to depict the appearance and structure of an atom when our own science has scarcely begun to agree on how to depict them."

"Of course!" Daniel exclaimed. "The basic building blocks of the universe are universal constants! The most simplified depictions and representations of life! We're looking at a true universal language!"

"And if we turn the page," Ernest added. "We see more."

Sal-Rar reached forward and pressed one of the smaller orange crystals. Immediately, the holograms changed and now words were written along with more holograms of different elements. I couldn't be sure which language it was but I could recognize it as belonging to one of the ones depicted on the wall. The words were static and unmoving, unlike the rest of the holographic elements.

"Are you saying this is also like a book?" Daniel asked breathlessly.

Ernest nodded. "I tried to read it but I never got very far. I taught Sal-Rar what I could but he's not any closer than I. It's too complex, too foreign to Earth languages that I'm familiar with."

"One hundred forty-six elements," Daniel commented in wonder. "If they're pictographic, if they're some kind of alphabet, this...this could take a lifetime to decipher!"

"More," Ernest said simply.

Daniel hastily stuttered out an apology as realized his verbal fumble. The rest of us spent a few minutes examining the holographic interface and marveling at the incredible technology we were seeing.

I gave a look to the words floating above us. This was certainly more than I recalled being here. Could it have been part of a research program? What exactly was the point of this place? In the show, Daniel called this the 'meaning of life stuff,' but I was never quite sure if he was right or what he might've been talking about. This place was built and presumably used during the height of the Great Alliance for some purpose. What could they have been discussing here? Was this pedestal the key to some great piece of research they were all doing? Perhaps some kind of a cure for the plague that ravaged the galaxy or maybe just a place to exchange ideas between the races?

I continued to think about what the true nature of this place could be as I played with a hologram of what I think I recognized as sulfur.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Of course, it wasn't long until a serious problem reared its head.

We had been preparing to dial back to Earth to report what we had found when we all got a good look at the DHD. Debris had fallen onto it at some point and it had smashed the dome in the center. Carter and I tried pressing different symbols to see if we could get any reaction, but nothing happened. It looked totally inoperable.

Before despair could settle over the group, Carter was quick to suggest that she might be able to manage some kind of workaround with the exposed crystals. Even then, if the DHD was inoperable, then we could always manually dial out instead. The DHD was still here, so the power source should still work even if the interface wasn't working.

Daniel, Catherine, and Ernest went back to the chamber below while the rest of us got to work out here. Sal-Rar spent a few minutes asking us about the places we had seen and I had decided to indulge him with a few stories of the sights on the more mundane planets we had visited and even a few of Earth. He had never seen a desert before and was fascinated when I described Abydos to him even though I told him he probably wouldn't enjoy a visit himself.

Unfortunately, that storm we saw outside hadn't gone away since we saw it. The sky was darkening quickly and the thunder was only getting louder with each successive blast. Sal-Rar had explained to us that the castle was hanging on the edge of a cliff and wasn't very safe. He had come here initially to get Ernest to leave and come stay with him and his family where he'd be safer.

Leaving Carter to continue working on the DHD, I went outside with Sal-Rar. If anything, he had been underselling the danger. Huge portions of the castle were dangling over the edge of the cliff and looked to be in serious danger of crumbling and falling away. Even if I hadn't seen the original episode, with that hurricane rolling in coupled with what I'd seen for myself, I knew we had to hurry the hell up and get out of here soon or we'd be stuck.

Ernest and Catherine came back up to see if we were ready to depart. Daniel had stayed in the chamber to continue his examination of the device, but since we weren't leaving at this precise moment, I saw no harm in it. I explained the situation to them and assured Ernest that Carter would finish tinkering with the DHD and get us home soon.

Sal-Rar was fascinated listening to us and watching us work. He had a very inquisitive mind and seemed to understand what I considered a surprising amount from us talking to each other and our stories. I also had to give him credit; when he saw that Carter was getting really into working with the DHD, he elected to excuse himself to allow her to work in relative peace. Instead, he came over to try and assist Teal'c and I spin the inner ring of the stargate as we eventually were able to proceed with a manual dial once Carter got the power connection working. It was kind of him to offer, but it became evident that Sal-Rar and possibly his people weren't known for their upper body strength. Teal'c and I did most of the work but it was still slow going, even between the two of us.

Manually dialing had been discussed among the SG teams during one of our briefings and we even had a demonstration as we took the stargate at the SGC offline for a bit to show each of the offworld teams how it could be done. The biggest drawback was the muscle required to keep moving the inner ring and how long the process took because of that. You had to spin the whole ring around like a combination lock in order to get it to take the next symbol you input into it. Even with Teal'c and I working together, it took about half an hour.

Of course, dialing out presented a problem all on its own; seismic activity. The stargate shakes a lot as it's powering up and this place wasn't the most stable to begin with. With the storm getting worse, I informed everyone to be ready once we dialed the gate to rush on through.

At this point, Ernest said his goodbyes to Sal-Rar.

_"I wish the others could be here to wish you goodbye,"_ Sal-Rar said mournfully. _"Mother and Father will be sad to have missed your departure. As will my sisters."_

Ernest smiled through tears as he looked up at the much taller Sal-Rar. "I wish I could say goodbye to them in person. But it looks like I have to go now or never. I'm so sorry, I-"

_"Please do not apologize, Teacher,"_ Sal-Rar said. _"None of us would dare ask you to stay. You have given so much to us. It is the least we can do to wish you well and simply hope we may meet again."_

"I'll come back," Ernest promised him. "I'll do my best to return. Perhaps others like me will be glad to come and teach here like I have. Your people have meant so much to me these many years, it'd be the least I could do to encourage others to come and teach."

_"It would be incredible if it were to happen,"_ Sal-Rar said. _"But the time has come for you to look after yourself, Teacher. Perhaps one day, I may visit you on Earth." _

"Perhaps," Ernest agreed softly. "I certainly hope it can be, one day."

Ernest and his student shared a goodbye hug and spoke together for a few more minutes before Sal-Rar headed for the exit to the castle. He stopped by Teal'c and I as we prepared to dial the last symbol and lock it into place.

_"Please,"_ he said to us. _"Take care of him."_

I let out a long breath and wiped my brow as I looked to him. I sincerely wished we could stay longer to learn more about his people. I had so many questions of my own I wanted answered about his people and their similarities to the race I read about as a child. But this was one time I couldn't take that risk. There was no telling how long it'd be before we built a ship capable of bringing us back here, even with the jump start our Earth was getting in that regard. I couldn't justify it today, but perhaps I'd get answers to my questions someday. For now at least, I knew which questions to be asking.

"We will," I told him. "You have my word."

Sal-Rar nodded at my words as he trotted to the exit. Stepping out into the windy exterior, he picked up his pace and was quickly out of sight. Another flash of lightning and a long rumble of thunder seemed to signal his departure. I hoped he would make it home safe.

As we finished dialing the gate a few minutes later, I noticed that Daniel still wasn't there. I let out a sigh as I asked Ernest to come with me to get Daniel to leave. Catherine and Carter both protested leaving without us, but I instructed them to send the GDO signal through and to hold the gate. Hopefully, we'd only be a few minutes. Because if it was much longer than that, it might become a much longer wait for a rescue.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"I'll be fine here, just go ahead without me."

Daniel had his pack on the ground beside him as he furiously flipped through pages of one of the notebooks and kept glancing back and forth between the holograms and Ernest's notes. I had brought Ernest with me to help convince Daniel that we had to go now. I was worried about how quickly we'd be able to leave with how slow Ernest would be with his advanced age, but I weighed the risk as worth it if it helped get Daniel out of here quicker.

"Daniel," I began reasoning with him. "That storm is getting too close. Looking around the outside, we can tell that the whole stargate room is hanging over the edge of the cliff. If that storm hits, we might lose the gate entirely. We have to go, now."

"This pedestal is too heavy to be moved," Daniel argued. "These writings can be deciphered, I'm sure of it! We can't afford to lose a single thing!"

"There's too much risk," I told him. "We have to go now. That storm is so massive, it looks like at least a category four hurricane, maybe bigger. This place won't make it through something like that intact."

"Then I'll remain in the chamber here and you guys can come back for me later," Daniel brushed off.

"It's not worth it!" Ernest insisted.

"I disagree!" Daniel snapped, angrily turning another page.

I was about to grab Daniel's arm and try to shake some sense into him. However, Ernest beat me to it. He grabbed Daniel's arm and forced him to turn to face us as he spoke.

"No prize is worth attaining if you can never share it," Ernest pleaded to Daniel. "There would be no point. Believe me... I know."

Daniel stared at Ernest for a long moment. His jaw set into a firm line as he made his decision.

Snapping his notebook shut, Daniel hurriedly followed Ernest and I out of the chamber and back to the stargate.

We raced back up the steps into the main chamber. I could feel the stones beneath our feet shake as it sounded like the thunder went off right over us. Ernest was pretty spry for such an old guy but he still was slower than the much younger Daniel and especially slower than me. Stepping back a bit, I placed one arm under Ernest's and turned my head to Daniel.

"Daniel!" I yelled. "Take the other side!"

Understanding what I was asking, Daniel half stepped, half stumbled over to Ernest's other side as another rumble shook the castle around us.

"Sorry, Ernest," I said hurriedly. "This is the last ticket out and you're not missing this ride!"

Together, the three of us ran up the last of the steps and made it to the gate room. Carter had activated the stargate and was waiting for us beside it along with Teal'c and Catherine. Dust filled the air and part of the wall near the DHD had already collapsed.

"Go, dammit!" I yelled to them. "We're right behind you!"

Catherine looked like she wanted to stay longer and wait or even run to us. However, Carter and Teal'c weren't having it. Looking reluctant to go through themselves, they each grabbed one of Catherine's arms and guided her back through to Earth.

We made our way across the room as fast as we could go. A resounding crack filled the room the same time as a brilliant flash lit up the chamber behind us. I spared a moment to look over my shoulder as I ran. The DHD was gone. And so was that entire section of the wall and floor. It had all collapsed under the stress or maybe the lightning had struck it. In any case, it had all fallen into the ocean far below.

The sight spurred me to drag my two companions to go even faster towards the stargate. As the sound of crumbling stone filled our ears as we leaped through the event horizon and back to Earth.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Ernest hung his head as the stargate failed to make a connection to the other side.

Catherine, now out of her mission gear and back into civilian clothing, placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"The storm really must have been as bad as we thought it would be," Daniel commented sadly. "The stargate itself might have actually fallen into the ocean when the floor collapsed or may have been buried when part of the structure fell on top of it."

"I hope he got to safety before then," Carter said worriedly. "That storm was right on top of us when he left."

"Andalites are a tenacious people," Ernest told us, still looking at the floor sadly. "I fully believe my student is alive and well. I just wish I could see him again. To show him Earth like when he asked me as a child."

"I'm sure he understands, Ernest," I told him softly.

"We can periodically redial the address in case the gate is ever uncovered on their side," Carter supplied helpfully. "Maybe one day, Sal-Rar or some of his people will salvage the gate from the rubble. They're certainly smart enough to try given what you've told us of them.

"What will I do now?" Ernest asked aloud, grasping Catherine's hand with his own on his shoulder. "My life was on that world. Other than with Catherine, is there even a place for me anymore on Earth?"

"Of course there is, doctor," I told him confidently. "Your story is simply incredible. Those notes you took are surly only the tip of the iceberg. If you'd be willing, I can imagine there's going to be a lot of people who'd eagerly await anything you'd have to say or write about the wholly alien species you lived along side of for all those years."

"I can second that," Daniel remarked eagerly. "There's so much you could share with us, Ernest. When you're feeling ready to tell us, of course."

"It would be a fascinating story," Teal'c agreed.

"The story of a lifetime," Ernest agreed softly, looking up at the stargate.

**AN: I just could't resist adding Andalites to my story. I was a huge Animorphs fan as a kid and they're still one of my favorite alien species. I couldn't resist giving Ernest some sort of companion species to keep him company and from going totally nuts. Plus, I really miss reading those Animorph books as a kid and later on fanfiction sites. These days you'd be lucky to find a semi-recent update in that story category, but a few gems can still be found if one looks hard enough.**

**Also, I'm gonna be tweaking some stuff from previous chapters in the next week or so. Nothing big, just clarifications and such. The biggest will be that note at the end of Thor's Chariot. In hindsight, it was kinda pointless and I'll be doing something with that.**

**School is back in and I'm finishing my last semester before I get my degree (yes, I'm bragging). My update speed will probably slow down given my need to prioritize classes, so I hope you guys understand if there's a longer gap between chapters. That's just the way life is sometimes, ya know?**

**This story hit the 100k word mark! That was much faster than I thought it would be! We're closing in on the big season one finale and I can't wait to hit season two! **

**This brings us to our first poll. I know some people have been griping about all the rehashing of episodes that don't matter so much and I understand where you're coming from. So, for season two and onwards, we might be doing something different. Here's our options:**

**1\. We keep going how we are now. I stay the course and go through major story arcs and original content as it comes up along the outline that I've already laid out for my story. It'll take us longer to get to the bigger stuff and more original content, but we'll all get there together. S2 marks the beginning of bigger changes, I promise!**

**2\. We Tarantino it. We jump forward a couple of years (probably about seven years, plus or minus) and do flashbacks of important events as they become relevant. We'll jump headfirst into original content and I'll jump into the stories I've been planning for some time but are still a ways off. Some mysteries will be tossed around in a way that's going to be hard to keep straight and it'll be hard for some people to not get lost or get the answers to questions they've been wondering about.**

**The poll is now up on my profile. Let me know what you think!**

**As for the people who apparently left me long winded reviews just to tell me my story sucked; did it honestly take you 100k words to figure that out? And for the person who left a guest review to call it a shit fic; at least I'm not a coward and am willing to put a name to what I write. ****And at least the guy who left a three part rant explained why he hated the story before telling me he intended to keep reading it. ****If my story is so lame, then outdo me by writing your own story. I'd love to read it and frankly, the Stargate category could use some better material. We've got some real winners, especially in the crossover section, but very few good AU stories. **

**Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

Chapter 17: Introducing; the Goddess of Sex, Drugs, Rock'n Roll & Poor Planning

I whistled softly as I circled the sarcophagus that had just been unboxed in the storage room. I ran my hand along the outside of it as General Hammond joined Daniel and I in our examination.

"Sir, I don't know what catalog we order from but I'm definitely going to have to have a chat with the guys who handle our supply room," I said, grinning like a fool as I rested a hand atop the gold exterior of the miracle device in front of us.

Hammond raised an eyebrow as he laid eyes on the large golden device. "It certainly looks impressive," he remarked. "Any reason it was sent here instead of a museum?"

"It was uncovered in an excavation in South America," Daniel began. "The team that discovered it was found dead and this was all that was left, lying open. Local authorities chalked it up to grave robbers that took everything else and escaped. Clearly, they had no idea what they had."

"You recognize it?" I asked Daniel.

He nodded. "It looks just like the one on Ra's ship he used to bring people back to life. What it's doing here, I have no idea."

"Must've been a leftover from when the goa'uld left the planet," I shrugged. "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm excited. This thing can heal mortal wounds and likely all sorts of other injuries and health problems. General, I would like to take this opportunity to formally request a change in our healthcare plan."

_'Not to mention resurrect the recently deceased should the opportunity ever present itself,'_ I thought. _'Fucking score!'_ I thought with a mental fist pump.

We began a discussion on what exactly we would do with the sarcophagus. I was tempted as hell to push for keeping it here at the mountain but as Hammond pointed out, there would be plenty of people higher up the chain of command who would want it shipped to Area 51 for further study. I couldn't deny the potential of this device and the good it could do for the world, even if we didn't figure out how to fix the addiction problems caused by overuse. Thankfully, using it sparingly didn't seem to do any permanent harm. I started to come around to the idea that we'd agree to hand this one off but say that 'if' we captured another one off world, we'd keep it here at the SGC for study and use by our personnel.

Of course, it didn't hurt that I already knew this wouldn't be the only one we'd come across. Let the nerds at Area 51 or wherever come up with the usage parameters and whatever else for this thing and we'll happily just reap the benefits here down the road.

I was working up my proposal to Hammond when a SF entered the room and politely interrupted us as he reported to Hammond.

"We had an attempted security breech several minutes ago, sir," the SF stated formally.

"It happens every now and then," Hammond remarked, unconcerned. "Let the local authorities handle it."

"There's more to it, sir," the SF continued. "She mentioned the stargate and seemed to know it was here."

We all exchanged worried looks before I turned back to the SF.

"Where is she now?"

**~SG-WOLF~**

Only General Hammond, Daniel and I came along to get a look at this intruder. Teal'c wouldn't be particularly interested just yet and Carter had her own projects to look after. As we approached the security station on the first level, I conferred with Hammond.

"We should hit the security station first, sir," I began. "If she knew enough to come here and to mention the stargate, we should at least attempt to maintain deniability by keeping the senior staff away from her. At least at first."

Hammond seemed to ponder that for a moment before nodding. "A sound idea," Hammond agreed.

We walked into the main security office at the at the corner of the hallway that led down to the confinement cells. As we entered, the two guards present snapped to attention and were waved to relax by General Hammond.

Approaching the more senior of the two, a skinny and blonde master sergeant of about middle age, I introduced myself. "Master Sergeant Caruthers, I don't believe we've had the pleasure to meet formally. I'm Colonel MacDuff and this is General Hammond and Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Caruthers nodded respectfully as he greeted us. "Good morning, sirs," he began. "I assume you are here for our intruder? She is secure in a holding cell if you wish to speak with her."

"Not just yet, sergeant," I replied. "Do you have her on camera?"

"Yes sir," Caruthers replied, gesturing us to the monitor screens behind him. There were eight screens depicting the views of the holding rooms with one larger monitor in the center for better picture detail. On one of them and pictured on the main viewing screen, there was a red headed woman wearing a tan, buttoned up trench coat. She stood with her hands behind her back and feet shoulder length apart while facing the door. Her eyes were closed as she just seemed to stand there as still as a statue.

_'Don't get too comfy, Hathor,'_ I thought. _'Today is definitely not going to go like you planned.'_

"Was she carrying anything on her person when she was arrested?" Hammond asked.

"Her pockets were empty, sir," Caruthers replied.

I frowned as I turned to look at him. "Just her pockets?" I asked. "Did you do a complete search of her before letting her into the mountain?"

Caruthers frowned and remained silent for a moment as he seemed to contemplate his next words. "Sir..." he began slowly. "I'm afraid we don't have the necessary personnel to search her as per regulations."

That response seemed to gain Hammond's attention and Daniel's curiosity.

"What does that mean, sergeant?" Hammond asked.

"Sirs," he began a bit nervously. "I don't have any female security officers working at this station. It's rather improper for me to have any of the men do a search of her person beyond a simple pat down."

"Then you are required to call for a female SF to conduct the search for you before allowing her to enter a holding cell, sergeant," I said severely. "It's important that she not be carrying any weapons or explosives into the mountain with her. Why did you not wait for the necessary personnel before taking her into the mountain?"

"Sir," Caruthers tried again, definitely looking nervous now but also...confused? "I can offer no excuse for not following procedure. However...the woman was being highly cooperative. We offered to take the handcuffs off of her once she was in a cell, but she asked to remain in them."

That drew strange looks from the rest of us and even the other SF in the room- a Hispanic airman with a thin mustache- looked at his superior strangely at this, apparently having not been aware of that fact. The master sergeant looked a bit dazed himself at his own reply, so I felt like it was safe to assume that Hathor had whammed him with whatever pheromone she used to control men. That, coupled with his own social customs regarding women had apparently been enough to let him ignore procedure and let her into the mountain with whatever goa'uld tech she had on her. I'd be sure to take it easy on him when we wrote up the report of this incident.

I turned to the airman, reading his name on his uniform as Airman Garcia, and directed my next order to him. "Airman, call for some female personnel to conduct a search of a suspicious person. We have to have _some_ female personnel with the necessary qualifications somewhere under the mountain."

"Yes sir!" the airman stood, saluted to accept his orders and quickly left to carry them out.

I questioned Caruthers for the next few minutes on how she had attempted to breach security and how she was caught. Hammond asked a few of his own questions , but it seemed that Hathor had only hopped a fence and tried to stroll past the guards before being immediately apprehended. She apparently hadn't put up any sort of fight or tried to run. She had just surrendered the moment a guard had called out to her to halt.

A short time later, three female personnel with the necessary qualifications were called up from the lower levels to conduct a search. I was genuinely surprised that we had so few female personnel in the base to begin with. The only other women I could think of that were stationed here were Carter and Frasier. I made a mental note to speak with the head of base security to try and balance out the shifts a bit more in the future to avoid this situation from happening again. Hathor might be a special case with her pheromones but this could be a potential flaw in our security and needed to be corrected. Only two of the three women were actual security personnel and the third was an electrician who happened to have the necessary qualifications to be of assistance.

_'Carter and Frasier weren't kidding in the original episode,'_ I thought. _'It's a freaking sausage fest around here.'_

The three women entered the room to speak to Hathor and we could see her frown and speak angrily to the three women on camera. We saw as one of the women approached Hathor and continued speaking with her as the other two covered her from the door with their own weapons. Hathor seemed peeved at the female SF, but then reluctantly allowed her to undo the handcuffs and unbutton her coat to search her in more detail.

"That's...a unique choice of clothing," Daniel remarked as we all watched as the coat opened to reveal a rather gaudy looking dress that seemed to be composed primarily of gold scales highlighting her breasts and a bright red cloth that draped down her body and seemed to part in segments around her hips and legs. Her neck and shoulders were left bare except for a large and gaudy gold necklace with a bright red gem laid into it.

"Definitely not your typical crazy person trying to break in," I agreed, observing Hathor's movements for any sign of aggression. But it seemed she was feeling compliant right now. She allowed the woman to check her coat again and confirm that the pockets were empty. Then, she started to get a bit cagey when the SF started patting down her torso and abdomen.

Hathor suddenly stepped back from the SF and seemed to say something angrily if the scowl on her face was any indication. The other two women in the room responded by raising their weapons and pointing them directly at Hathor. The goa'uld froze as she realized her predicament. She spoke again but looked more controlled this time. The SF said something back and Hathor seemed to relax her stance and allow the SF to approach her.

After a minute or two of fumbling over her clothes, the SF seemed to undo some sort of clasp. A wide strip of cloth came away from the front of Hathor's dress and revealed some sort of jeweled belt with several gold bands that wrapped around her abdomen and a large round red gem placed right over her belly button. Just as it was fully revealed, the large gem flashed red in full view of the three airmen watching her.

"What in the hell is that?" Hammond asked.

What followed was a flurry of activity as the three SFs dog piled Hathor onto the hard concrete floor, thinking she was wearing a bomb.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Fortunately, Hathor _wasn't_ wearing a bomb. She apparently tried to pass it off as a fancy piece of jewelry to the guards and was outraged that they took it from her. One conversation with a few of the base scientists later proved that she was full of shit and the device was some sort of goa'uld technology. Of course, we had no idea what it was for. Not even Teal'c had ever seen something like it. Hathor was put back in handcuffs and the room was now under heavy guard. We had also seized her necklace, but hadn't uncovered anything special about that just yet. I had no idea if it was special, but nobody wanted to take that chance.

As for me; I was weirded out as hell by the damn thing. I remembered Hathor using it to turn humans into jaffa but I didn't know if that was its only function. I had ordered it placed in one of the secure lab rooms once we determined it wasn't capable of detonating and ordered it contained. The damn thing creeped me out once I thought of it creating symbiote pouches on people and me in particular. It happened to O'Neill, it could happen to me if I wasn't careful.

We were all assembled in a nearby briefing room to discuss the situation further. Several others had joined us including Carter and Teal'c, who I had called for personally. Might as well get some different professional opinions in on this.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hammond began. "This is one mess of a situation. Right now, we have a person in or custody who has either come into contact with unknown goa'uld technology or is possibly even a host herself. We have no idea how long she's been wandering the world but her presence alone is giving us all sorts of uncomfortable scenarios to consider. Now, let's hear some options."

"We need to determine first if she really is a goa'ud or not," Dr. Frasier began immediately. "She hasn't shown any sign of having a symbiote and without her admitting it, we won't find out without a detailed medical assessment."

"What I'm concerned with," I began. "Is tipping our hand. She had to have some reason for coming here like she did. If we push too hard too quick, we might miss an opportunity to get her to tell us what we want to know. She could clam up if she thinks for one moment she's holding onto valuable information that we want."

"From what security said, she came here because of the stargate," Carter said. "It was strange how she attempted to 'sneak' onto the base but are you suggesting she had another agenda, sir?"

I frowned as I contemplated the table surface and tapped my fingers on it. "Her behavior strikes me as odd," I stated slowly. "She was far too docile when the SFs brought her in. She didn't lose her composure until we started to search her. And there was something else...something with the airmen she interacted with. I'm not sure exactly how but they just seemed...off."

Carter's eyes widened. "You don't think she infested some of them with symbiotes, do you?" she asked in slight alarm.

"We didn't see any sort of carrying case or see any signs of symbiote insertion on any of the airmen," Fraiser interjected.

"A goa'uld would not have been able to survive for an extended length of time without a special container or jaffa to carry it," Teal'c intoned. "No such container has been found."

"No, it doesn't seem likely," I agreed. "But it's something about how she's acting. I think we should have someone else talk to her. Maybe she'll give something up in a one on one conversation that she wouldn't otherwise."

"Do you think it would be a good idea if I try to talk to her?" Daniel asked.

"Dr. Jackson, I'd rather not place you in harm's way if this woman reacts to you with hostility," Hammond said, frowning.

"I'm probably the most qualified human to hear what she says and determine if she's a goa'uld," Daniel said. "Unless we try to send Teal'c in."

I hummed as I thought about that. Daniel would definitely be more vulnerable to Hathor if he went in there but Teal'c might not get the reaction I want out of her. On the other hand, Hathor likely could affect jaffa to some degree, even if they had a stronger resistance to it. I was loathe to send in anyone in there for that bitch to dose with pheromones, let alone a member of my team. However, if I had to, then at least it could be someone with a stronger immunity.

"Teal'c would probably be the better option," I decided aloud. I turned to him. "How about it, buddy? We'll give you a wire to wear before you go in and you try to get her talking?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at me. "For what reason would I be wearing a wire during a conversation?"

**~SG-WOLF~**

Teal'c entered the cell.

We continued to watch everything from the security station now turned interrogation room. Hammond would have probably ordered her moved to a proper interrogation room but he had agreed that moving her entailed its own risks and it'd be better to keep her where she was for the moment.

Since this was still the nineties and funding was still a pain in the ass for even the military, the cameras in the temporary holding cells we had at the SGC didn't have audio pickup on them. So, I had spent fifteen minutes with Teal'c and a security guy who attached a wire below Teal'c's abdomen to transmit audio to us. Teal'c was a quick learner and it wasn't a complicated device to begin with, so we were ready to go pretty quickly.

Upon his entry, Hathor quickly rose to her feet to look at him. She gave Teal'c a look of disdain as she saw the gold tattoo on his forehead.

_"A servant of the Serpent Lord,"_ she uttered disdainfully at him in a normal human voice. _"Does your master send you to taunt me? Still playing games to spite our beloved? You will pay dearly for our humiliation."_

_"I do not serve Apophis,"_ Teal'c informed her. _"I have sworn my allegiance to another."_

_"Who?"_ she demanded.

"Remember; don't tell her anything directly," the security officer whispered to Teal'c over his earpiece. "Let's see what her guesses are."

Teal'c did not react to the SFs words but he did raise an eyebrow at Hathor. _"Is it not obvious to you?"_

Hathor sneered at Teal'c._ "My lord husband has many enemies but none who would dare act openly against him. Is it Kronos? I doubt Shiva would send one of her agents in her place. Or is it you were not able to swear yourself to a System Lord after betraying one?"_

"Well, that's all the confirmation I need," I remarked. "Definitely not just a lunatic. That's way too specific terminology for her to be faking it."

"Agreed," Hammond said gravely. "I'll ensure the intelligence team is briefed before we hand her off to them. I want to know how the hell she's here on Earth."

"Should I tell him to leave to cell, sirs?" the SF officer asked us both.

"One more thing," I interjected. I motioned for the SF to lean aside as I moved closer to the microphone to communicate with Teal'c.

"Teal'c," I said. "Tell her you are in the service of the ones who killed Ra."

Teal'c allowed a small smirk to show itself to Hathor as the woman's angry glare only intensified.

_"Ra is dead,"_ Teal'c informed her bluntly. _"My allegiance is to the ones who killed him."_

That seemed to finally shock Hathor. _"Ra, the Supreme System Lord is dead?"_ she asked slowly.

Teal'c only nodded in reply, still smirking slightly although it no longer seemed to concern Hathor as she seemed to change her attitude completely upon hearing this information.

_"Then we owe you and your master a great debt,"_ Hathor said. I almost wanted to laugh at the blatant change in her body language from angry to seductive. This woman was not subtle by any means. _"Come closer that we may grant you our favor"_

"Be cautious, Teal'c," I said to him.

Teal'c cocked his head to one side in consideration before apparently coming to a decision. _"Very well,"_ he said.

Teal'c and Hathor approached one another and met in the center of the room. We all watched as Hathor leaned up on her toes to reach Teal'c's cheek as she gave him a rather slow but chaste kiss on the cheek. As she pulled away, we all saw something on camera. Hathor exhaled some sort of pinkish colored mist from her mouth and softly breathed it onto Teal'c's face.

"I'm not the only one that just saw that, right?" I asked.

"Definitely not," Daniel replied.

_"Tell your master,"_ Hathor instructed Teal'c. _"That we wish to see him immediately. To grant him our favor as well."_

With that, Teal'c nodded to Hathor and exited the cell.

**~SG-WOLF~**

From there, everything was surprisingly straightforward. Teal'c reported to us and Dr. Frasier in the Infirmary and we determined that Teal'c had been sprayed with some kind of pheromone that seemed to make him highly suggestible. Frasier had enacted HAZMAT protocols and had kept Teal'c and the samples she took isolated while she examined them. Teal'c shook it off but reported to us that he found himself compelled to obey Hathor's command to report to his superiors and bring them to her. He told us that he had heard legends of goa'uld queens who were able to compel service through the power of their beauty and magic. He'd just never considered those stories literal until today.

Everything after that was fairly anticlimactic. I even said as much to Daniel as we were chatting in my office the next day.

"Based on Teal'c's firsthand experience, we were able to determine that she's definitely too dangerous to keep here," I said. "Those pheromones or whatever they were are just too dangerous to let her be around people in anything other than a highly controlled setting. According to the med techs who put it under a microscope, they've never seen the like before. They're best analysis was that it would affect the brain chemistry in a manner similar to sodium-penthol or whatever it's called. It's known to make humans highly suggestible but this stuff Hathor spits out is apparently way more potent and airborne too.

"The newly commissioned intelligence division will take custody of her. It's a mix of military intelligence guys and people picked from the CIA and brought into the Stargate Program. They'll be as prepared as we can make them for keeping Hathor under lock and key. I do not envy the poor bastards responsible for watching her. I imagine she'll be spitting fire once she realizes she's been captured by the descendants of humans she once ruled over."

"Where will she be taken to?" Daniel asked.

"She'll be enjoying the accommodations of a CIA black site. Where she'll have a windowless room with a single bed and what I'm going to assume will be an all-female staff ready to cater to her every whim. And by 'cater,' I mean 'interrogate for useful information.'"

"You mean they'll torture her?" Daniel asked, looking less than pleased by that notion.

I gave Daniel a very frank look at that. "Relax, Daniel," I began. "This isn't a James Bond film. It's not a horror story. She'll be deprived of sleep, comfortable clothes and probably any form of relaxation while she's questioned, but we're not torturing her like you probably think we are. We realized a long time ago that that medieval stuff doesn't work if you want real answers from people."

I meant that too. While in my original universe, a post-9/11 environment had driven intelligence agencies around the world into a frenzy, that hadn't happened here. Not yet anyway and not ever if I could help it. Come to think of it, 9/11 had never been mentioned in the show, so I wasn't sure it ever happened here...

I disregarded that line of thought and turned to finish my answer to Daniel.

"Pulling fingernails and dangling people above shark tanks is Hollywood stuff," I told him. "She's far too valuable to kill and so I imagine we'll make every effort to keep her alive. She's got the genetic memory of the goa'uld that came before her and although there's no doubt that most of her info is waaay out of date, there's still gonna be some good stuff in there. My guess? They'll work out a deal where she'll live comfortably in exchange for her cooperation. I strongly doubt she's ready to rough it in a bare bones cell with only a cot and toilet. I give her a month before she's giving up info in exchange for daytime television and something to eat other than military rations."

I meant that too. Hathor showed all the signs of being a spoiled little princess and that could be easily exploited by the right interrogator. My only concern was if some dumbass got cocky and she made a break for it or if someone tried the whole 'she's not human so she's got no rights' bullshit as an excuse to experiment on her. Given the fact that she's a goa'uld queen and Ra's former...consort? Baby mama? I wouldn't exactly call them husband and wife if he was apparently cool with leaving her in a sarcophagus for a coupe of millennia. Goa'uld divorce was a real bitch, it seemed.

Anyway, I was careful to put in the report my own opinion on how important keeping her alive is. Besides the obvious moral reasoning, she might also be an incredibly valuable bargaining chip in the future. Ra's former consort and an apparent broodmare of the species would make her an incredible bargaining chip if we ever found ourselves in a pinch.

"You're saying they're not going to hurt her?" he asked, surprised.

"Not like how you're probably thinking," I told him again. "I doubt any physical harm will be inflicted on her, but they'll definitely still work her over pretty good. I've seen it before. She might get run ragged if she's determined to resist any questioning, but the goal is gonna be to get her cooperation. If she tries to hurt anyone with her physical enhancements, she won't get far before she's taken down. Symbiote or not, she's not exactly the Terminator. Humans don't stop being squishy just because they get a snake in their head."

Daniel still looked a bit uncertain, so I tried to reassure him. "Look," I tried again. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll keep an eye on reports from her interrogation. If there's anything weird going on, I'll take care of it. In fact, I'll even see if I can get you access to read them yourself."

"Thanks," Daniel said, smiling awkwardly. "I know it's probably weird for me to care so much about a goa'uld, but..." he trailed off.

"It's not that weird," I told him. "Don't worry about it."

What I was certain Daniel was leaving unsaid was his concern for what would happen to Sha're and Skaara if and when we got them back. Now that we had access to the Hammer, it would be a fairly straightforward procedure to get Amonet out of Sha're. The question would be if we would press her for information first and how long we might keep her like that rather than free her.

I wish I could assure him that wouldn't happen. But we were veering hard away from canon now and things would only get more uncertain from here. I had just averted the entire season two finale and the premiere for three. There was no telling what sort of changes I had caused by ensuring Hathor would never build her own powerbase and be interacting with the galaxy for the next year or so.

I was going to do everything I could to help Daniel, help my friend, get his wife back. But I was starting to realize the greater potential for uncertain futures now. I'd just have to make the best decisions I could with what I know and hope that would be enough.

For now, the best I could do is reassure my friend that I'd help him however I could.

"Don't sweat it, man," I told him clapping him on the shoulder. "We'll handle it, whatever comes our way. Now, lunch? Carter and Teal'c are probably going to start without us if we stand around up here any longer."

**AN: ****While we haven't seen the last of this bitch, I think we can safely assume that we won't have to put up with the capture plot / clip show at the end of season two. Don't get me wrong, it was above average for a clip show and Hammond's 'yee-haw' moment was awesome in all the right ways. I just don't see a need for it when I'll be pushing my own content more at that point.**

**Hathor is regarded as one of the low points of the series due to its weirdness. Personally, I don't consider it the worst but it's easy to see why some people would. Since the writers insisted on bringing her back for a two part finale and premiere, I take her as being canon, even if most of her stuff was forgotten or retconned later. So, if we're going to have her, we might as well do something with her and get her out of the way.**

**Also, as I was rewatching the episode I thought it was really weird that O'Neill was walking around the whole episode without an undershirt on. He's literally out of uniform for this whole episode and the only reason I can think of is that it'd make the scene where Hathor gives him the Insta-Jaffa Hug simpler and less porn looking if she doesn't have to untuck and lift his shirt up first. They already raped Daniel in that episode, so I guess they tried to tone down the raunchiness a bit. **

**Season One episodes are sometimes weird for any new show and this was no exception I suppose. Let's be glad a lot of that ridiculous stuff wasn't ever mentioned again. **

**Also, the note at the end of Ch.15 has been changed a little. I'm definitely happier with it now and think it'll be a little harder hitting than the old one was.**

**My Story Snippets book is up! Come check it out on my page!**

**Next time, I've got one more chapter to cover the necessary filler episodes. Then, get ready for a stunning battle as we reach the Season One finale!**

**As always, I love reading your reviews.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:**

**The following is a fan written story. Stargate or any of the associated properties mentioned in this story are all owned by their respective companies, authors and/or corporations. This is purely a work of fiction written for pleasure and nonprofit. Please support the official release.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: As Time Goes By…**

It was never a dull moment around the mountain. Honestly, it was one of the best parts of the job. Going through the gate was always an experience, even if it was just for what amounted to a nature hike under an alien sky. The very real chance of life threatening danger only added spice to it as far as I was concerned. You never quite knew what incredible things were waiting for you when you took that big step.

But back here at home? Under the mountain?

There was an ever-present hum of activity around the various facilities beneath Cheyenne Mountain. It seemed that the Air Force had begun to realize the enormous potential in the sheer variety and volume of discoveries we were bringing back. We'd accumulated quite a 'hodgepodge,' as Daniel called it, of thinkers, tinkers, soldiers and recently, even the occasional spy.

Although they were few in number, an offworld intelligence unit had been formed of specially selected intelligence agents collected mostly from the CIA, but included at least a pair of agents pulled from some naval intelligence unit. They didn't have much to do at the moment, but were charged with the handling of prisoners (i.e; Hathor), making sense of where power rested in the galaxy these days, and how we could best use that information to our advantage. I'd met a few of them when I'd visited their office and hadn't been particularly impressed with the incredibly messy layout of their data sheets and reports, but I understood that they were scrambling to get as much done as quickly as possible with very little field experience or information to work with. At least the other rival nations of Earth existed on the same planet as us. For now, it was all about playing 'catch up!' until something more real and exploitable, like Hathor, landed in their laps. As outdated as her information was, at least it was something to start with.

Speaking of interesting encounters around base, I had one of those myself not so long ago...

**~SG-WOLF~**

"Seamus Harper, at your service sir!" the young man saluted jauntily with his hand while holding his wrench.

I was momentarily taken aback by the startlingly young looking mechanic who had been brought to the base a few days ago. My own schedule had kept me from meeting him in person as I normally liked to do but I had eventually made the time during one of my many walks through the base. Today, my walk had brought me down to the machine shops and labs where the head of the department had been quick to introduce me to his newest subordinate with a quick warning to trust that his skills made up plenty for his lack of professional bearing and cocky attitude.

What I was greeted with was a young man appearing in his late teens or early twenties with spiky blonde hair, green eyes, and a boyish face. He wore a plain grey t-shirt with green cargo pants and a very eye catching tool belt around his hips that I guessed had to represent a significant fraction of the young man's weight, given how must stuff it seemed loaded down with. He couldn't have been more than a few inches over five feet and I based that off of the heavy steel toed boots he was wearing which I guessed added an inch or two to his height. He also wore clearly insulated gloves that ended a bit past his wrists.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Harper," I greeted casually. I held out my hand to shake his gloved one, which the young man did with a rather flamboyant and exaggerated sweep of his arm. "I understand you've been brought on board with this program for your engineering talents. I hear that you've already made some sort of progress on current projects?"

"You 'betcha!" the man nodded and gestured me towards a corner of the workshop that he had apparently been granted for his work. "Hear ye, hear ye! Step right into my corner and be amazed at the talents of the Great Seamus Harper!"

The young man waved his arms like an excited child and I saw the supervisor facepalm at his antics out of the corner of my eye as we walked up to the workstation. Personally, I was slightly amused but was still willing to give the young gear head an opportunity to impress me before I passed any judgments.

We came over to a table where four familiar pieces of technology were sitting on an otherwise bare metal surface.

"These the new helmet prototypes?" I asked rhetorically. They clearly were. All four were lined up, deployed, and were staring outwards at us as we approached. I noticed that their rectangular eyes were now covered with a black lens and gave off a much more intimidating presence when looked at.

"Colonel, please," Harper said as he quickly jogged up to the table and picked one of the helmets up off the table. He held it aloft in one hand, gesturing flamboyantly as he went on. "These babies have been given the Seamus Harper Treatment and are now more than ready for whatever bug-eyed, squiggly, or forehead tattooed baddies our boys and girls may see out there. Seamus Harper has now brought this spectacular, this magnificent, this _fine _piece of technological wizardry to you and it is now yours to enjoy!"

"You are aware that referring to oneself in the third person is usually attributed to mental instability, Mr. Harper?" I asked wryly.

"Or a sign that you're a comic book villain," he fired back, unashamed. "Probably one that wears green cloaks and builds robots."

"If you plan to build your own power armor or robot army any time soon, just remember that the Air Force will want to make you a lucrative offer _before_ you attempt to conquer the world, not _after_," I replied.

Harper gasped dramatically, almost dropping the helmet he was holding. "You actually understood that reference?!" he asked incredulous.

"I did," I nodded, bypassing him and picking up one of the other helmets to examine myself. "What features other than lenses have you added?"

Scrambling around me and seeming to snap out of his surprise, Harper picked up another helmet and held it out in front of him as he explained.

"Okay, so, the fellas before me we able to calibrate the helmet for individuals so the helmets don't try to take off your nose or chin, right?" he began, apparently with a rhetorical question as he just plowed on through. "Right. Well, these babies now come with two whole new deployment forms instead of just the one! Check it out!"

Harper demonstrated this by placing his fingers on the disk on the side of the skull portion of the helmet just where the ears would be located on a human. He pressed hard on the disk and turned it back into another position where it clicked and locked in place. The helmet itself reacted to the change and began to fold up and into itself, but stopped just where the nose would be, leaving the portion where the wearer's mouth and chin would be exposed. He pressed it again and the helmet retracted a little bit more, now just covering the portions that would be the wearer's scalp and the back of their head.

"I came up with this after a slight, er, 'error' in one of the testing sessions," Harper explained. "One of the helmets short circuited and knocked all internal systems offline. Dude was totally stuck in the unit."

At my look, Harper raised his hands and quickly elaborated. "Oh, the dude was totally fine! Helmet just wouldn't work for bit and he was stuck wearing it for half an hour. It wasn't airtight or anything, so it was fine! Guy was basically just stuck wearing an expensive tin can on his head."

He waved his hands dismissively. "Anyway, I had this idea! He had to speak up and kept repeating himself since he was hard to hear from inside the helmet. So, I thought a function that partially uncovered the head and face would be great in the field! And taking it a step further, I added one where the wearer can still protect the back and top of their head and use their own eyes in case the HUD fails or the user needs to use their own eyes! Now, you can eat, talk, smell the roses, even give a steamy kiss to any alien hotties you meet offworld!"

Giving the engineer another look, I admitted to myself that the idea was a good one. Not the part about making out with aliens, but having different settings on the helmet. While I imagine it wouldn't be the most comfortable, being able to use the scope of a weapon without having to look through the eyepiece of the helmet would probably be very useful until someone worked out a better weapons interface.

Speaking of...

"Any progress with the HUD systems?" I asked him. "I understand everyone down here and their cousin has been taking a crack at fine-tuning that feature."

"Their cousins, their mothers, their creepy friend from elementary school who used to eat paste," Harper nodded, taking my analogy further. "We've gotten some cool stuff put in there and finally have a working software program that should be user friendly enough that we'll get fewer complaints."

"Got one handy that I can try out?" I asked next.

"Well..." he stretched the word. "Not a working model, per se. We've been using a test model we cobbled together so that we wouldn't have to keep refitting helmets for testers."

Harper crouched beside the table and pulled out one of the storage drawers at its bottom. While I couldn't see exactly what he was rifling through, I heard several metallic thudding noises as items bumped into his hands and one another.

"Ah ha!"

Harper stood suddenly, holding the result of his search up victoriously. It was actually a standard combat helmet with one additional feature; a pair of tinted goggles seem to be affixed to the front of the helmet. I noticed that the glass was the same tint as the eyepieces on the finished helmets. I'd heard that the eyepieces were made with the same polarizing lenses that NASA had been experimenting with and would adjust themselves to shield the eyes from most levels of UV lighting.

The engineers here had also been experimenting with the idea of 'smart glass' technology for the helmets. Basically, integrating cameras and circuitry into transparent glass and creating a wearable, if basic, computer. The technology was new, but was one of those old ideas we finally had the right tech to try and build it with. The original prototypes required a small backpack to run and power but with the introduction of the tech we'd been acquiring and experimenting with here at the SGC, we could jump the designs ahead by several generations at least.

What followed was a quick demo of how the heads up display operated. It definitely had the virtue of being simple to operate and required minimal input from the operator. It was only a prototype, but it still had some useful features built into it. The HUD came with a hookup jack for the wearer's radio to be plugged into and could be activated by pressing the side of the helmet and speaking into the built in microphone. It also came with a compass (which I had doubts about working on any number of planets or environments), a camera function that didn't yet have a video option but could be used to snap pictures and store them for later download, and a nicely worded promise for night vision at some point in the future. Or at least, some sort of amalgamation that Harper explained would work 'like' night vision.

When I asked what he meant, Harper went on to explain that there was another function that one of the techs had been working on that he thought I might like. He swapped out the testing helmet I was wearing and handed me a different one with only one function on it. Activating it, I found it was some kind of highlighting system that emphasized the environment and created an outline of nearby objects. It worked best as a low light visual enhancer and was apparently meant as a replacement to night vision or NVGs. When I asked, Harper informed me one of the techs working on the HUD had thought that the design might outright replace current night vision technology and had been downright gleeful for the opportunity to prove it.

Personally, I was a fan of sticking with what I knew worked. I loved innovation and applying old ideas in new ways, but I was wary of new technology being used to 'replace' stuff that worked fine and didn't overcome some existing flaw. From what I could tell, this system worked fine in lower light environments, but was borderline useless in well lit environments. The designer hadn't worked out how to make the system function well in daylight situations and even if it was an exclusively nighttime feature, I wasn't sure it beat the visual acuity current night vision tech grants.

Still, it might become something special with a little bit of work. And I couldn't deny it had standard NVGs beat in terms of cutting down on bulk and weight.

"I like it," I informed him at last.

"Well, hey, what's not to like?" Harper said, sounding rather arrogant. But I think he might've been trying to imitate Rodney Dangerfield or something with his change in speaking tone and how he pretended to adjust an imaginary tie on his shirt as he said it. But I could deal with quirky if it produced results.

"The experimental system looks nice, but I think I speak from a place of experience when I say we'll probably be going with the first prototype you showed me," I informed him. "Although, I'm interested to see if the second system can be improved upon in the future."

"Yeah?" Harper asked, perking up a bit the idea. "I like that one too. Too bad the system's a real power hog, not to mention still buggy as hell. The first one is way more energy efficient and streamlined since it doesn't require too much computational power to operate. Power's not too much of a concern with those little liquid naquadah batteries we use to power them, but we still haven't figured out how to keep them from overheating. Right now, we can barely prevent that from happening in the prototype. Last thing we want is for these things to fail ten minutes into using them."

"Amen to that," I agreed wryly, imagining getting my face burned or electrocuted by one of these things malfunctioning. Suddenly, they seemed a little less cool. "I'm impressed with how much progress has been made with these things. You've practically shoved another computer into this thing with how much it can do."

"We've been learning a lot with all the computer tech we've yoinked from the gliders and a few other odds and ends the teams have picked up offworld," Harper went on. "Honestly, we're living in a condensed technological renaissance down here. It's gonna take us awhile to decipher and get the most out of the goodies we've picked up."

"Right," I agreed thoughtfully. "I remember Carter saying something like that awhile back. Something about how a lot of technology we _could_ build if only we just had all the missing components. I think she was talking about batteries in that instance."

"Oh, don't get me started on batteries!" Harper lamented. "We've been crawling forward in trying to build better batteries for decades now! All we've managed is to make them cheaper, not better. After we cracked open one of those staff weapons and got a look at that green glowing miracle inside, I was ready to fall to my knees and declare my worship, not for the goa'uld mind you, but for their _tech_."

Harper finished his little rant by making what looked like an amalgamation of at least three different religious gestures. At least, that's how I thought to best describe it. I might've called it a seizure instead if I wasn't fairly sure the man was still joking around.

"Can you have more units ready for field testing?" I asked him, ignoring his quirky behavior once again as I handed the second testing helmet back to him.

"Shouldn't take too long once I get a team I can fit them to," Harper nodded, now juggling the half helmet back and forth between his hands.

"I've got three teams lined up and waiting to be volun-told to test these things out," I informed him. "My own team is first in line. So make sure to give it your best, Mr. Harper."

I held out my hand to shake one last time and the young engineer responded with a flamboyant slap of his own palm against mine as he grasped my hand and shook it.

"You got it, boss man!"

**~SG-WOLF~**

I suppose it was only a matter of time.

SG-6 'Bobcat,' accompanied by SG-7 'Raven,' were sent to a world where we had made contact with a goa'uld mining and refinery outpost. The jaffa garrison looked to be practically nonexistent and the locals seemed friendly enough when they arrived the day before. SG-Bobcat had managed to make an agreement with the locals where they could be shown the inside of the refinery in exchange for basic supplies and a few other odd items our teams carried, like their binoculars and better knives. Eager to see the goa'uld process for refining naquadah, the team negotiated what they believed to be a fair price and reported back to the SGC. Hammond gave the mission the green light but insisted that Raven accompany them for backup.

A couple of hours after their departure, we found out that it'd all gone to shit.

Raven had held back to guard their exit and that, along with the extra firepower had probably been the only reason we had any idea what had happened. Bobcat had been ambushed immediately after entering the refinery complex and had lost two of their members. The other two managed to scramble out of there in a hurry and make a run for it back to the stargate.

Raven had come under heavy fire as the stargate came under assault by a large number of jaffa. Apparently, the garrison's numbers were much larger than we had been led to believe. The last two members of Bobcat had managed to hook up with Raven and they'd managed to fight their way back to the stargate, loosing a member of Raven along the way. With a large number of jaffa closing in, the survivors had no choice but to leave the body behind along with the ones from Bobcat.

They managed to make it back to the stargate, fighting their way through the rear guard of jaffa that had been left there. Bobcat lost a third member during that brief firefight. They then quickly dialed Earth and retreated through the gate. The jaffa were close enough to fire their staff weapons at the open gate and reach Earth, scoring the concrete wall in the Gate Room with burns from the heat of the plasma. Once the last members of Raven came through, one being dragged by his teammate due to a staff injury to his leg, we closed the iris. The metal shield let out loud thuds before the stargate shut down, meaning either staff blasts or maybe even a particularly brave jaffa had tried to charge through in pursuit.

There was no hope of going back for the bodies. The survivors reported that jaffa were swarming that planet in numbers of at least battalion strength and they'd have to be stupid as hell to not have a heavy guard on the gate now. And even if we'd had the sarcophagus we'd stolen from Hathor, we couldn't hope to save them if we didn't have their bodies. As it was, the sarcophagus was still at Area 51 being studied and I didn't even know if it was in working condition even if we had the bodies.

Everyone was hit hard by the losses. Before now we'd lost contact with teams or individual members for any number of reasons, but the worst that'd happen was an injury. Off world teams always returned intact, if a little more worn around the edges. Even the losses on our last trip to Abydos didn't hit so hard since most of these teams hadn't even been assembled yet. It was all ancient history to them. Weird exposures, broken bones, and the occasional staff weapon burn were the worst we'd faced thus far. I suppose even I was guilty in thinking we were just too good to get caught, too well trained, or maybe just covered by plot armor.

As I stood in the Gate Room in my full dress uniform, watching the color guard fold a flag for each casualty as the music stand played the time honored song of taps, I was reminded that this world had very real consequences for failure.

This ceremony was private and for base personnel only. We'd packed the Gate Room with as many as we could and both the Control Room and the main briefing room above it were crowded as well. It was standing room only and only those without duties elsewhere could attend. Front and center were the survivors. The leader of Raven had to be pushed there in a wheelchair in order to attend, but he had been adamant that he wasn't going to miss this. Beside him, stood the last living member of SG-Bobcat. I didn't know much about him, but I could tell by the vacant look in his eyes that he wasn't wholly here with us. Only time wold tell if he'd remain with the program or would be rotated out for either discharge or some other assignment.

Lasting less than an hour, with a few brief words spoken by both Hammond and the base chaplain, the ceremony concluded. The gathering broke apart and it was back to business as usual. By Hammond's request, I'd followed him back to his office where we both unbuttoned our uniform blazers and sat heavily in the padded chairs.

We spoke about little of consequence at first. New team assignments, the status of the wounded, that kind of thing. Eventually, after a long period of silence between us, I gave voice to the thoughts that had been bothering me.

"I guess I just fell off a mountain."

"What was that?" Hammond asked.

"I mean that I just had a harsh wake up call," I explained. "I suppose, intellectually, I knew this sort of thing had to happen sooner or later. We send people into dangerous situations all the time around here. They're all skilled professionals and they know the risks and the importance of our work here. That doesn't make it any easier though."

"No, it doesn't," Hammond agreed, sighing heavily. "And it won't be the last time either."

"No it wont," I agreed sullenly. A knot had formed in my gut since before the memorial service and hadn't gone away after. Feeling suddenly drained with all that had been going on lately, I decided to try and reach out for any sort of advice. "General, you've been at this longer than I have. Any words of wisdom to offer?"

"Have you not lost people under your command before, colonel?" he asked instead.

I shook me head. "No, I have...but it still feels fresh every time. I know it doesn't ever get any easier but I'd have thought I'd have learned to handle it better. And yet here I am, wondering what else I could've done or said to have prevented this or minimized the losses."

And didn't that just sum up what I'd been doing around here since day one? I like to think I'd done well so far and gave us an extra edge or two in our early days, but was it enough? Was I missing things? I'm not perfect and I'd be the first person to say so, but now the difference is that if I'm not perfect, other people, whole worlds could pay the price for my failures.

I'd had friends die before. Some of them, I even felt some responsibility for even if I knew it was likely misplaced. That was just part of life. But this was sitting with me worse than many of those deaths had and I couldn't shake the sense that I should have done more, done _something_, somehow. What that something _was_ I didn't know, but I couldn't shake the feeling.

We both sat in silence for a few moments as I waited for Hammond to say something.

"I imagine for many officers, it'll always hurt," he said finally. "It's one of the things that makes an old officer look forward to retirement. Then again, we both decided to stick with this instead of retirement, didn't we?"

"That's right," I said in realization. "You were on your way out when the stargate reopened and it all hit the fan. I know why I got pulled back in, but what kept you around?"

"Same thing that kept me around for this long in the first place, I imagine," he said, leaning back in his chair. "This is what I've spent my life doing. I don't think I ever saw myself being happy anywhere else. When those airmen got attacked by those jaffa, I wanted to see those responsible held accountable. When we got a much bigger idea of what was out there and the threat against us, I was asked to stay on and I couldn't say no."

"Was it your sense of duty or adventure that kept you here?" I asked, interested in the older man's story.

"A bit of both," he chuckled. "And that I was asked personally by the Secretary of the Air Force to stick around. Apparently, I still have enough friends or at least friendly acquaintances in DC who thought I was up for the job."

"They weren't wrong," I told him. "I'm not sure how well we'd have managed if someone less flexible or too scared to think outside the norms of military command had been put in charge. This program prospers in no small part because of you, sir."

"That's kind of you to say, colonel," Hammond said with a small smile before his expression sobered again. "But to answer your question, I don't think anything other than time and experience helps. Time to come to grips with reality and enough experience with it that you just learn to move forward."

"But it's good to care," he continued. "I don't want to think of the consequences of what would happen if someone who didn't care was the one giving orders around here. The day you _stop_ caring is the day you should be concerned, colonel. I know that the day I stop feeling anything for my dead, I'll retire for good. Whether I have a request by the Pentagon or even the White House to stay, I know I'm gone."

"For you colonel, I'd say your best bet going forward is to keep doing what you've been doing."

"Just power my way forward then?" I asked, a bit disappointed by the generic sounding advice.

"No, you can_ keep doing what you've been doing_," he corrected me, pointing a finger at me as he emphasized his wording. I noticed him seeming to become more intent in his posture as he leaned forward again in his chair. "For example; those walks you make through the mountain, visiting personnel everywhere, and making it clear that you're here for them, that you listen to them. It counts for a lot. You make yourself available to the personnel here in a way that I've only seen a handful of times before in my career and never quite to the degree in which you manage to do it. I can tell what an impact it has."

"I take my job as your second in command very seriously, sir," I said modestly.

"And it makes for one incredible difference, colonel," he told me. "While time is the best cure for all wounds, especially ones like this, I believe you couldn't do better than to get yourself back out there and interact with our people again. You have a natural and open personality that lets people believe they can depend on you and you've proven that through action as well. Generals, politicians, and leaders work their whole careers to imitate what seems to come to you naturally and many never succeed. You live in those interactions and seem to come alive when you play to a crowd."

I was flattered by what the general was telling me, but was trying to understand all of what he was saying. Was I really standing out in that way? I didn't think I was making such an impact. When I first took my strolls through the base, it was partly because I was so in love with where I was and what I was doing and partly because I felt I had a duty to do so.

As time went on, I guess it had just become habit to check in on everyone and make sure things were running smoothly. While I know I had my own part to play in this universe, I felt that the best way to ensure my own success was to make sure everyone else was succeeding too. The fact that I enjoyed my interactions with the base's personnel didn't really seem like more than a bonus to me.

"What I'm trying to say is that you should go out there and start fresh," Hammond explained. "Talk with some of the personnel. Remind them that we've all still got a job to do and about how there's always another tomorrow and another mission to look forward to. I believe that seeing you carrying on will help get both them and you through this."

I honestly didn't know what to say in response to that. I felt myself get slightly choked up that this man, this incredibly experienced military officer, had expressed such faith in me. And to be honest, I was starting to like the sound of the idea of taking a walk through the mountain and checking in on everyone. I was still responsible for them, the SG teams especially, and felt like it was about time I got it together.

Standing and refastening my uniform blazer, I gave a salute to the general. I hoped that it also conveyed my gratitude to the man through body language and tone.

"Thank you, sir. I believe it's time I got back to work."

"Any time, colonel," he said, standing and returning the salute.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Our experiences in heading back to Chulak a few weeks later had been pretty productive and I had taken the chance to capitalize on it.

Meeting Brey'tac had been a great beginning to one of the ideas I had been holding onto for awhile now. As soon as we returned and I finished my official report on the mission, I also submitted another proposal into what was now officially being called MacDuff's Playbook, since that is how Hammond had decided to describe it to his own superiors when he passed it along. Apparently, the SecDef or someone else high ranking and in on the program thought it was pretty funny and had actually labeled it as 'the Playbook' in official documentation. Some additional documents had made it into there since my initial submissions, but the majority of them were still mine.

While I considered it good that my proposals were being taken seriously, I was admittedly a bit nervous that my paperwork was being passed around and discussed at such a high level. It really struck home to me that I was in a whole different league than even regular high ranking military officers if my word was being taken seriously by the nation's top officials.

It also made me more concerned with proper grammar and spelling whenever I printed something to be shown to others on that level. Misuse 'their' or 'you're' just once or in the wrong situation and I'd likely never hear the end of it.

Anyway, this most recent submission had suggested the creation of an offworld base. Not like the Alpha Site, but something else entirely. I'd already made a proposal for that and it'd been approved with incredible speed, even given the fact that it was designed as a last ditch measure to save the president and a select cadre of Earth's best and brightest. Self interest was a powerful motivator, I suppose. No, this one would be dedicated primarily to aliens, or non-Earth natives at least. It also tied in to the idea of fostering a jaffa rebellion that we'd briefly discussed as part of getting Hammond to approve of Teal'c going back to Chulak to rescue his wife and son.

I had even brought Daniel in on this with me. My nerdy accomplice was pretty excited to be a part of this once I pitched it to him in person. I could tell I'd definitely garnered his interest when I visited him in his lab the next day and saw him compiling notes and marking down ideas of his own. I was a little embarrassed that my own research hadn't progressed much beyond the 'Find a Cool Name For It' stage and how to keep the location secret and secure. Daniel had blown me away with several sources consisting of deep studies into multi-cultural settlements and different cultures having to exist in close proximity to one another. It included notes on stuff I hadn't even thought about, like dietary requirements and even sanitation as viewed from the eyes of different stages of civilization.

I was thoroughly impressed with how much detail had gone into Daniel's notes and chided myself for not realizing sooner that in regards to making ideas like this come to fruition, guys like Daniel were the ones who were going to make it happen. I insisted that he come with me to propose the idea to the general at some point whenever he and I had the time. My shy friend at first attempted to beg off of doing so but I got him to agree with enough badgering mixed with flattery.

It was a couple of days later that I went to pry Daniel out of his office and informed him that the general and I had some spare time and I wanted to bring up the semi-official proposal to him along with something else I wanted to bring Teal'c in on as well once I had first sounded the idea out to General Hammond.

"Another idea you want to pitch, colonel?" Hammond asked. His brusque tone might have put some people off, but I had known him long enough and talked with him enough to recognize the joking look in his eye that told me he wasn't against another visit from me.

It really helped that I knew that Hammond genuinely appreciated my ideas. Even the ones he didn't put much faith in or see any feasibility with getting approved at this time, he was still willing to hear me out because he was convinced that I at least believed it was worth consideration. And since a number of my proposals also dealt with the safety and security of the base and our offworld teams, I believed he also felt a sense of duty to at least hear the basics.

He gestured to the two seats in front of his desk and we took that as our cue to be seated. We chatted for a few minutes about unimportant things and eventually the topic reached our latest mission and our return to Chulak.

"I actually would have liked to bring Teal'c's family back with us, sir," I began. "But I just didn't consider it the best choice for the situation, so I didn't push for it."

"Did Teal'c ask for them to come with you, or did he recommend that they stay on Chulak?" Hammond asked.

"We talked about it before and during the mission," I admitted. "And he and I were in agreement that unless it didn't seem at all viable, they should stay there."

"Really?" Hammond asked, showing some surprise. "I'm sure we could've made accommodations for them here under the mountain. I remember telling Teal'c as much before you all departed."

"Teal'c would have likely preferred that, sir," I explained. "But I don't think he'd have wanted them to live on Earth if they were going to be kept underground the whole time. They've not even let Teal'c leave the premises of the mountain unless it's through the stargate. His wife and kid would be stuck underground for the foreseeable future and left waiting here with little or nothing to do while he went on missions. As much as he'll miss them, we agreed that they'd be better off going into hiding with his wife's family instead."

"Not to mention Brey'tac," Daniel added. "He'd also promised to look out for them when he could and seemed confident that he'd be able to locate her and protect them if need be."

"That's all well and good, gentlemen," Hammond replied. "But I think it's about time we circled around to the point of this meeting. Colonel, you said you had some sort of proposal based off of what to do about these three but I'm not sure how much help we can provide if we're not bringing them back here to the SGC. It sounds like they're doing well enough on their own, based off of what you are saying."

"But how good is 'well enough?'" Daniel asked in response. Hammond looked quizzically at him, so I took up the explanation from there.

"Sir," I began. "Finding Brey'tac may be a huge boon for us down the line. Even more than it might be in the short term. It proved that there are jaffa willing to not only think outside the indoctrination the goa'uld have them go through, but also be willing to take action against them. Teal'c described how he was trained by Brey'tac to see through the illusion of godhood the goa'uld always put up around him and his people by using reasoning and small examples to prove they were not divine beings."

"Where there's one, there are likely more," Hammond agreed, repeating a point we'd made before going on the mission.

"There's also the matter of the camp we saw," I continued. "There must have been about a hundred or so people living there and it sounded like more of these camps existed on Chulak alone. Outcasts and misfits who serve no apparent purpose and live on the edge of local civilization out there. How does that sound to you, sir?"

"Like a breeding ground for domestic unrest and potential sympathizers," Hammond replied, looking impressed and intrigued by the possibilities.

It wasn't often depicted in the show, but the Jaffa Rebellion was a tremendously powerful tool in Earth's fight against the System Lords. Having relied on their slave armies for so long, just the notion that they couldn't trust their own forces to not betray them was a powerful form of psychological warfare to employ against the goa'uld. Earth getting in on the ground floor of the movement and helping build it up from scratch also helped make sure that the movement stayed more or less in control. While that might sound sinister, anyone well read on the French Revolution could tell you about the dangers of a revolution that gets out of hand.

But now, I just had to stick the landing with the second part.

"But a lot of those people, like Teal'c's family, are what we might consider noncombatants," I continued. "Our mission today just highighted that while there may be those willing to fight against the goa'uld, their families aren't immune to retaliation."

"The fear of what the goa'uld will do to their own servants, regardless of loyalty, runs strong," Daniel added somberly. "We saw it on Abydos, where Ra attacked the people there just for meeting with us. We saw it today where a group of jaffa had burned down Teal'c's house and drove his wife and son into hiding."

"So I thought," I said, picking up the narrative. "Having a place where the families could go might be a powerful incentive for allowing a dissident jaffa to join up with such a cause."

Hammond looked thoughtful at the idea and I gave him a moment to consider it before I began speaking again.

"But this proposal it twofold," I added. "Thinking more long term here, it might benefit us greatly to have an off world site dedicated to the housing of refugees temporarily or even a settlement on a more permanent basis."

"We've encountered populations out there living in slavery, in miserable conditions or on worlds where they are forced to endure under terrible conditions on the whims of their goa'uld masters or because they've been abandoned," Daniel went on. "Having a world to act as a refuge would be a tremendous boon to us in rescuing some of these individuals and getting them away from the goa'uld entirely."

"You make an interesting case, gentlemen," Hammond told us thoughtfully. "But I see one problem with this idea; where would we be able to establish such a refuge?"

Daniel and I both let out a wince at that. Admittedly, since all we had to go on for gate addresses right now was the cartouche on Abydos, all of our known stargate addresses were or currently are goa'uld controlled worlds. We hadn't gotten any addresses yet that weren't originally discovered by the goa'uld. Even if they hadn't visited in at least a century, there was no promise they wouldn't come back.

"Well, we haven't figured that out, sir," I allowed.

_'Not yet,'_ I thought to myself.

"But there's no guarantee that it'll always be the case," Daniel added optimistically. "We're making new discoveries every week. It's not outside the realm of possibility that we could offer refuge for displaced groups of people and that we could find such a safe location in which to house them. Bringing them to Earth is something I realize would be impractical and a poorly received by many. But at the very least, we should consider the incredible humanitarian concerns involved if we were to just leave these people to their own devices. Apart from being a refuge for jaffa civilians, we could offer salvation to whole groups of slaves left to toil endlessly in mines on hostile worlds."

I just looked between Daniel and Hammond as I let the former continue to speak without interruption. One of the reasons I was happy to bring Daniel to this meeting was his clear passion for the topic at hand. Daniel was a natural born humanitarian who liked to wear his heart on his sleeve. When the topic was pertaining to the cause of civilization or in helping those in need, he spoke with a passion that demanded to be listened to. Michael Shanks had done a great job of demonstrating that trait on the show, but it was something else to see this in person and from the real Daniel Jackson.

Hammond hummed thoughtfully and rested his chin on clasped hands as he took all of this in. Finally, he spoke.

"I don't think I need to tell you two that this sort of endeavor would require an incredible amount of resources and an unprecedented level of commitment from both this program and the United States," Hammond informed me. "I'm not sure we could be up to such an undertaking at this time. In terms of providing security alone and in terms of the resources and personnel you'd be suggesting, we would likely be biting off more than we could chew."

I actually was well aware of that even given the fact that in the long-term, we could make such a settlement self-sustaining in terms of food and other necessities. My hope was that we could eventually make it part of an international effort and have some of the other nations of Earth be brought on to help take up some of the cost of big endeavors like this. Of course, I wasn't going to bring that idea up now.

Fun fact; if you ever want to get fired from your highly classified government/military job, all you have to do is mention sharing your clandestine assets and information with other nations. Someone will be happy to show you the door.

While I knew that it was pretty much an inevitability that we'd have to make this program a global effort in the future, pushing for it too soon wouldn't earn me any friends in high places. It'd probably take a bit longer and a few more things would have to happen before such an idea could be talked about openly without the worry of ridicule. In this game, timing counted for a lot.

For now, I was happy to get this proposal submitted and put into consideration. I was sure events would validate me in the long term and get this proposal considered again and eventually passed.

"Of course, sir," I said instead. "But long term, I'm hoping we can consider the potential benefits of being prepared with such a site. Having another allied world out there may have more than one benefit in the future, even if we have to create it ourselves."

"Agreed, colonel," Hammond said. "Have it written up and on my desk when you get the chance. I'll ensure it's passed along upstairs. For what it's worth, despite my skepticism, I will also pass along my support for the idea."

"Will do, sir," I said, hoping that Daniel would take the hint from my behavior and not try to 'press the attack' at this point. I liked the guy, but he really didn't know how to let some stuff go, even if temporarily. "And thank you."

Thankfully, Daniel chose not to continue the argument today. He and I stood and I offered a casual salute, not overly concerned with formality in this meeting.

"Dismissed," Hammond said, standing and returning my casual salute with one of his own. Daniel just raised his hand and waved it awkwardly for a moment before putting it back down.

**~SG-WOLF~**

"Don't be a baby Kawalsky."

"Colonel, I am certain there are strict regulations about inflicting this kind of harm upon your subordinates."

I had finally put aside some time for some special training with my whole team. Today, SG-Dragon would be joining us in the gym for some hand to hand training and defensive tactics as led by Teal'c.

Despite what TV and movies would have you believe, not every member of the armed forces received extensive lessons in badass punching and kicking. Much more time was spent teaching recruits to fight with the weapons in their hands or with the various war machines at their disposal. Folks like myself and even Carter were more of an exception when you took into account just how big the military was. As a pararescue, I was trained in a variety of martial forms that included the various tools at my disposal and my bare hands as well. I'd discovered that I had a lot of skill packed into my grey matter and I was confident in my ability to match even a jaffa in combat. My real concern was the people under my command who didn't enjoy the same assurance.

Today, I had asked Teal'c to take charge and to teach us a couple of things. During my chats with Teal'c, we had also discussed how jaffa were trained. Teal'c told me all about the warrior culture of the jaffa and how from a young age, they were trained with a wooden staff, called a bashaak. Different goa'uld had different traditions for their jaffa based mostly off of whatever culture they had adopted or stolen them from, but a lot of stuff was fairly consistent.

"I shall endeavor not to cause permanent injury, Major Kawalsky," Teal'c informed the smaller man. He was probably trying to sound nonthreatening, but his small smile as he said that didn't help. Neither did the fact that the black tank top he was wearing left his cantaloupe-sized biceps on full display. Teal'c was a natural at controlling his emotions and hiding his thoughts but I think even SG-Dragon, who hadn't spent nearly as much time around him as we had, could tell he was somewhat amused by Kawalsky's nervousness.

"Hey I'm not so delicate big guy," Kawalsky said, taking a guarding stance against Teal'c. "But, uh...let's maybe start slow, yeah?"

Teal'c nodded in affirmation and dropped into a ready stance.

Daniel leaned over to quietly speak to me. "Kawalsky did hear what happened when those marines on SG-Hawk all sparred with Teal'c, right?" he asked.

I hummed aloud thoughtfully as I scratched my chin, not answering him verbally.

Before Daniel could ask again, Kawalsky decided to make a step forward and made a jab at Teal'c, who's guard absorbed the blow with no issue. Before Kawalsky could withdraw or try a followup, Teal'c grabbed the major's arm with lightning quickness and pulled him further forward. Teal'c stepped just out of the major's trajectory but swept one leg beneath the man. This had the result of making Kawalsky completely lose his balance and sending him tripping forward and slamming into the ground.

To his credit, it looked like Kawalsky quickly attempted to recover but Teal'c wasn't going to let him. He dropped to the mats and on top of Kawalsky, quickly wrapping a meaty arm around his neck and putting the man into a choke hold that had him stuck. If Teal'c so desired, I knew he could have snapped Kawalsky's neck like a twig with his tremendous strength, but that wasn't his goal here.

After a few seconds of struggling Kawalsky tapped out and Teal'c immediately released him from the hold, dropping the major onto the mats and giving Kawalsky an opportunity to recover, which the major seemed to appreciate as he gulped for air and massaged his collarbone and neck.

"No Daniel," I finally responded. "I don't think he heard about that."

"Ouch," Carter summed up for everyone nearby. I caught Casey and Warren giving a sympathetic wince for their team leader as he continued to groan from his position on the mats.

"Are you injured, Major Kawalsky?" Teal'c asked, remaining crouched beside him on the mat.

"I'm good, big guy. I'm good," Kawalsky said rolling onto his back and panting a bit. "I certainly didn't expect you to try to knock me off balance like that. In my experience, big guys like you usually try to overpower their opponents first."

Teal'c rose from the mats and offered a hand to his fallen opponent, which the major accepted. Kawalsky was lifted from the mat in one swift movement as Teal'c lifted him with ridiculous ease with just one arm.

"Jaffa are most often trained in martial forms often while wearing their armor," Teal'c explained. "Even a small jaffa will weigh a considerable amount in full armor. Basic martial training for many jaffa consists of techniques to use an opponent's weight against them and offset their stance, leaving them open to attack."

"Yeah, I'm not lookin' to get into grappling range of any jaffa any time soon," Ballard, from SG-Dragon said. From what I understand, he was the team sharpshooter and typically preferred a Remington 700 whenever venturing offworld.

"Doesn't mean they won't try to get in grappling range with _you_," I remarked. "We wander into way too many temples and weird buildings not to consider the possibility that some jaffa will wait for one of us to turn a corner and take us by surprise."

"Indeed," Teal'c nodded to me and turned back to Ballard. "Many jaffa will attempt to get closer to you during combat in order to take advantage of their physical strength, as jaffa are accustomed to being able to physically overpower their human servants."

That might seem a bit ridiculous to most soldiers from Earth, but it did make a certain kind of sense. As powerful as those staff weapons were, they also had a terribly slow rate of fire when compared to even the most basic firearms we carried with us offworld. Before the evolution of more advanced weaponry on Earth, melee combat was still fairly common. Even with the invention of arquebusiers and eventually muskets, soldiers still carried bayonets, knives, or some other weapon because it was entirely too common to engage the enemy at melee range.

Jaffa had the advantages of their superior strength and advanced training with their staff weapons whenever it came down to it. I had asked Teal'c all about how jaffa were normally trained and included it in my initial reports. Teal'c, being First Prime was obviously a cut above the average jaffa. He had been fortunate to be trained under a renowned master from a young age and had flourished under his teachings. Other jaffa had to learn from their fathers or some other adult figure in their life and there was no assurance in the quality of that training. So when we practiced against Teal'c, we got a good idea of what the best of the jaffa we might be facing off against might be like.

Thankfully, very few jaffa seemed as well trained as Teal'c.

"We'll start going in turns while Teal'c walks us through the more effective techniques we'll be learning," I said to the whole group as I stepped up next to Teal'c in front of both teams. "We'll be emphasizing solo tactics first and later on, we'll practice working in pairs. Dragon, you'll be with Teal'c first..."

"Joy," Kawalsky grumbled, rolling his shoulders back and wincing.

"Carter and Daniel, you'll be warming up with me," I finished.

The two of them nodded and we all separated to different sets of mats. While I knew Carter was a pretty capable hand to hand fighter and I was certainly no amateur myself, it was more than obvious that Daniel... wasn't exactly Bruce Lee. Not his fault or anything, but I was determined to drill a certain level of skill into him. I knew he had it in him but the sooner we brought that potential out, the better. That, and it was never a bad idea to work on building team coordination through these kinds of activities.

We spent a solid hour practicing before I called a break and switched us all off. I could see everyone taking these lessons to heart and I was glad for it. We had the whole day at this and I'd be working everyone to the bone if that's what it took for these lessons to stick.

No telling when exactly we'd all have to depend on these techniques in the near future.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Consciousness returned to me slowly. I felt a moment of confusion as I looked up and saw my reflection staring back at me.

This confusion left me and was replaced with a moment of panic when I realized that I was lying on my back and that was definitely not a reflection staring back at me. Then I realized there were some serious looking wounds on 'my' face that shouldn't be there. Then I realized that I couldn't move at all.

I began to recall what had occurred earlier as we had arrived on this world.

_'Harlen's planet,'_ I remembered. _'Which makes this guy my...oh. Right.'_

That wasn't my reflection looking back at me. He's my synthetic clone.

Now that I understood what he was, I looked back at my android counterpart with fascination. He was wearing the black work clothes with silvery highlights that Harlen must have given him to wear. He had some pretty serious looking damage to the left side of his face that looked like several jagged scratches as well as... burn damage? Rather than looking horrific like it would if he was organic, it only revealed the grey and artificial looking 'flesh' that was just below the normal looking skin.

I had planned for this happening and had wanted it to happen more or less how the original events took place, but with one major difference.

I had always thought it was a sorely missed opportunity when it came to the synthetic duplicates of SG-1. All of that training and potential left to rot in the ass end of nowhere in a facility that was on the verge of falling apart. They had superior physical abilities to baseline humans and all of their personalities were nearly if not exactly identical to their flesh and blood originals.

What sort of assets could they become? Without O'Neill's immediate dismissal of machine life, what sort of options could we now explore? Could they be the first in a long line of synthetic lifeforms that might grow and develop their own society? Could we begin reaching into whole new areas of science and philosophy as we explored the human consciousness through new, _cybernetic_ eyes?

Wasn't it Q from Star Trek who summed it up best? _'**That** is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.'_

But perhaps more pertinent to our future needs; could we use them against threats like the Replicators? The Wraith? Hell, I'd like to see how they fared against regular jaffa.

My train of thought was derailed when I heard the voice of Harlen speaking.

"You belong here," he insisted. "You are welcome here!"

I felt myself able to rise from the low table I way laying on and immediately did so. I swung my legs over the side, but remained seated as I looked at my doppleganger. Behind him stood Daniel, just without his glasses and dressed like my synthetic counterpart.

"Daniel?" I asked. Partly to play the role of being confused and partly because I wasn't sure what else I could call him and not sound like an ass.

Nevertheless, the synthetic Daniel Jackson winced at my query. "Uhh, sort of," he said before moving over to the table with his own counterpart on it and assisting him.

I observed the duplicate Carter helping her original sit up as they stared at each other in mutual fascination. Original Carter seemed at a complete loss for words as she stared at her copy and Synthetic Carter looked more as if she just wasn't sure what to say. One might have even called their staring narcissistic as they examined the copies of themselves. Either that, or...

I shook my head to get the suddenly dirty thoughts to go away.

"Harlen, what the hell has been going on here?" I demanded, turning to look at him. My anger wasn't entirely false, since I did take offense at the underhanded way he went about his goals in creating our duplicates. I understood that he was desperate, but just because I understood it didn't mean that I liked it.

"I apologize for this entire debacle," Harlen said. "I restrained you for so long and failed to properly communicate my intentions to you or your synthetic duplicates. This entire misunderstanding could have been avoided had I been more open with you all."

The old man, or rather _android_, in front of us made a contrite gesture of some kind as he bowed his head and clasped his hands in front of him.

"It doesn't seem possible," Organic Carter commented, drawing my attention back to her as Synthetic Daniel helped Organic Teal'c sit up as his own duplicate wasn't present.

"It's true," her counterpart said, shrugging helplessly. "At first, we didn't even realize we were any different."

Seemingly now fixated on the scientific aspects of what was going on, the duo launched into a discussion on the sheer impossibility of what they were seeing and rationalizing it away as the two realized that it was clearly possible, somehow.

The two Daniels began a discussion of their own and Teal'c inquired to Harlen if there was a copy made of him. My duplicate then got my attention when I looked at him by jerking his head towards the door. I took that as a sign to follow him, as he chose to leave the room a moment later. Seeing that the others were all invested in their own conversations, I followed my own duplicate out of the room less than a minute later.

Walking into the next room, I saw him leaning over a large glass tank of some kind in the corner of the room. Lab equipment designed for some equally mysterious purposes littered the surfaces of tables around us, but I decided to ignore all of that for now. I had a much bigger concern right in front of me.

I had thought long and hard about what I'd do in this exact situation, should it ever come up. I had come to the conclusion that I'd have to prepare myself for a whole lifestyle change again if and when the time came. Not going back to Earth for a long time, if ever, would suck. However, this would be a sacrifice I considered worthwhile for the incredible opportunity I'd have planted at my feet. I'd had to consider it not just in terms of what a copy of me would be sentenced to, but what I would be sentenced to. At the moment of his creation, this was a whole separate but identical version of me. The answer to whether or not I could endure the uncertainty and challenges presented would come when I spoke to this doppelganger for myself. If he wasn't like me or if we were somehow on different pages, then I had no idea what I could do about it other than kill him, which I wasn't willing to do. Not without damn good cause, at least.

Walking into this, I just hoped that we were both still on the same side here. I decided there was no point in being coy and just dived into it.

"We still on the same page?" I asked him bluntly, approaching him from behind as he gazed into the glass tank. The fleshy, mostly formed body of the new synthetic Teal'c inside of it gave me a moment of pause before I stepped up beside my duplicate and gazed at it alongside him. At least this tank's purpose and my duplicate's interest was now obvious...

"I think so," the other 'me' answered, still looking at what I suppose would soon be his new teammate. "We thought about this beforehand based on what we saw on the show. We gave careful consideration to the humanitarian concerns we'd have. My thoughts seem fairly consistent to what they once were, at least. No great revelations have come forth and I don't have the urge to pull a Skynet. So yeah, I think we're still on the same page here."

"What about praising the Omnissiah?" I asked. He and I both shared a grin at that before he responded.

"Nah" he said. "I would probably have been the only one back at base to understand that reference. Besides that Harper kid, maybe. Come to think of it, they'd all have probably been more alarmed if I suddenly started praising some entity they'd never heard of before."

"They didn't take it well when they found out you guys were all Terminators?" I asked rather rhetorically.

"Not at all," he confirmed. "I think I managed to calm things down a bit by talking about how we were all certain of our identities, even if we weren't sure why we were suddenly machines. I brought up the idea of having our brains transferred into android duplicates or maybe having our thought patterns copied while the organic SG-Wolf remained imprisoned on the planet. Hammond really didn't like that last one and brought up some other techs and scientists to brainstorm the idea after I mentioned it. By that point, Carter snapped out of her own shock to offer her own opinions and Teal'c and Daniel followed and joined the discussion shortly afterwards. The discussions and examinations continued until we all started feeling weak and they hustled us back through the gate. I promised Hammond I'd find out what happened and make a report back to them if we found you guys or got transferred back into our human bodies."

"Well, that's not too terrible," I remarked. Turning me head to look back at the synthetic Teal'c in the tank in front of us, I frowned at it. "Teal'c's duplicate still didn't survive?"

Synthetic Macduff shook his head. "Just like last time, there was apparently too much instability with the added brainwaves from his symbiote. He attacked me while we were trying to make emergency repairs on some equipment and I had to fight him until Harlen showed up and shot him."

"Though he gave you that before he went, huh?" I asked, indicating the torn skin-like material on his face.

"He ripped a pipe off of a machine and smashed the jagged end into my face as I tried to dodge it," he told me, lightly running his fingers over the mutilated tissue as he did so.

"Ow," I winced, imagining that happening to me. It was easy to do so since my exact copy was here to demonstrate a close facsimile of what that would look like, just without the blood and accompanying viscera.

"Yeah," Metal Me agreed. "The weird part was that while I definitely felt the blow, blocking out the pain was fairly simple after a few moments. I don't even really feel much of anything from it now."

"Weird, but useful," I remarked, earning a shrug from my counterpart.

There was an ensuing silence that I found only slightly uncomfortable as neither of us said anything for a few seconds. Eventually, I decided that sticking with what I/he/we both knew was for the best. Knowing myself, as accepting as this as I'm trying to be, I could probably use some reassurance that everything wasn't lost. And who better to offer that reassurance then me?

"Well, at least leaving the stargate active will be nice," I remarked. "We'll probably be able to send along anything you guys need while you're here and keep you relatively updated with what's happening on Earth and elsewhere."

I very much doubted anyone was going to send a nuke here because of 'security concerns' like O'Neill said the first time around. And if anyone brought it up, I would happily explain to them how dumb and what a waste of resources that'd be. If these guys were our copies, then saying they weren't trustworthy was like saying we weren't trustworthy. Like suggesting we should be shot once we 'knew too much' or left the mountain on leave. As of this moment, they're all inclined to work with us and be on our side. No sense killing them all off when they can make themselves useful.

"Sending along some engineers who can help make sense of all this might be a big help too," my duplicate added, gesturing to the facility around us. "I'm sure we would be appreciative for the assistance and there's probably a lot to learn about all this stuff."

"Just so long as Harlen doesn't kidnap and make copies of anyone we send," I added sarcastically. "You realize that it'll probably take a bit to convince Hammond it's worth the risk sending more people who may potentially be compromised."

"I know," he said, raising his hands up in surrender. "I know. Trust will have to be earned. But, at least we've already taken some right steps. And it'll take awhile until my Carter figures out how to extend our battery life so we can stay offworld for any extended time anyway, so that's one handicap that should allow us all some breathing room and insurance against the Robot Uprising."

He said that last part making air quotes with his fingers and I laughed at how I looked when I did that with a sarcastic tone. He joined me a moment later, seeming to enjoy the absurdity of the situation just a bit as we both went back to being silent and just looked at the Teal'c-Bot in the tank as it lay there.

"Colonel MacDuff?" we both heard Harlen call out from the adjacent room. "Colonel MacDuff?"

"Ugh," my counterpart and I groaned simultaneously. We grinned as we realized that we did that in sync with each other.

"We better go and see what he wants," my counterpart remarked. I nodded in agreement and we both started walking back together. As we walked back to the chamber with the rest of our teams still audibly chatting, I caught Cyber-Me looking at his arm with rather intense scrutiny.

"Feeling any different?" I asked him.

"Nah, it feels fine," he answered quickly. "But, uh... it just occurred to me that most of this skin is pretty much for cosmetics. Did you ever think about how cool and useful it'd be if we had a metal arm?" he commented.

I looked at by counterpart for a moment before letting out a laugh as I pictured a Winter Soldier version of me running around and scaring the crap out of jaffa as I did all sorts of ridiculous stunts and slaughtered any goa'uld that stood in my way. I even pictured a little symbol for Earth on the arm instead of a red star to depict my allegiance.

Yeah, he was definitely still me.

**~SG-WOLF~**

Daniel had gone missing.

We had arrived on this planet and had shown up in some sort of research complex. It looked like another compound meant for research or some sort of holdout for a people or species that died out for some reason.

We realized that this place was probably dangerous when we found some sort of warning effigy placed near the gate. A crude wrought iron pole had been harshly driven into the ground and depicted some sort of entwined nest of hissing snakes. Honestly, I thought it looked ugly as hell.

I allowed for a search of the immediate area around the stargate. I rationalized it with the idea that there may have been more clues around us as to what had happened here and we wouldn't have to expose ourselves to any radiation to do it. Daniel had disappeared during the ten minutes we were apart. All that we found was the mysterious object that my teammates overlooked, but that I recognized immediately.

The Quantum Mirror.

I had considered going after him, but decided it would not only be dangerous but likely impossible. Daniel had not only taken the remote with him, making me nervous about tampering with the mirror in any way, but he was lucky as hell to have been allowed through to that Earth at just the right time before the goa'uld dialed in and not during one of their evacuations. Not to mention lucky to have even been allowed through the iris using an SG-1 code and not have been shot. Their version of the SGC was caught up in a defense against the goa'uld and a hurried evacuation off world. Given all that I doubted I'd make it through, let alone make a difference.

Hours passed as there was still no sign of Daniel. At least I didn't have to fake my concern for him as I called in Daniel's missing status back to the SGC and brought in Lion (SG-5) and Hawk (SG-3) to help conduct a search. We combed the facility and eventually looped back to the gate to report on our findings. Of course, Daniel wasn't found.

I was just giving direction to the teams that had already made it back when we heard yelling coming from one of the labs near the stargate. With weapons up, we all moved in to investigate only to find Daniel lying on the floor near the Quantum Mirror. He had what looked like a staff blast injury to his upper right arm.

The medic from Hawk was kneeling next to him before I could even call for him. I took a knee on Daniel's other side and tried to stay out of the way but was ready to assist if the medic asked for it.

"Lennex!" Daniel reached for me as I knelt.

"It's alright Daniel," I told him, taking his hand. "Just relax and lie still."

Clutched in Daniel's hand and forced into mine was a piece of yellow notebook paper. Passing it to Carter behind me, I heard her unfolding and examining it but my attention was still on Daniel.

"Lennex, they're coming," Daniel gasped to us. "They're coming..."

"Just lie still," I told him again. "Let the medic work on you."

The blast didn't look particularly fatal, but I didn't want Daniel to aggravate the injury further. The plasma from the staff blast may cauterize the wound, but that's a hell of a lot of trauma to the victim's flesh. As a stretcher was unfolded from somebody's pack, I felt a grim feeling settle over me. Events were in motion again and I had to be ready. This invasion presented too many opportunities to pass up and I had to make the most of it.

The invasion was coming and I hoped like hell we were ready for it.

**AN: Relax, I'm not dead and neither is this story.**

**I really wanted to get this chapter published today, so please forgive any editing mistakes.**

**Ladies and Gentlemen; Seamus Harper now works at the SGC. God help them all. ****Congrats to anyone who recognized the name! I tried to grasp the flamboyant nature of the cheeky engineer, but hope it didn't come off as over the top.**

**Thoughts on the helmet? I didn't want to overdo it, but I thought that equipping it with a few basic tools like that might be more realistic given the current tech and for an early prototype. We also got a peek at what future versions might look like and also give an excuse to not have everyone wearing those large helmets which don't really do anything against most of their enemies, especially jaffa. It made sense to not wear them in the show from both a realism standpoint and TV one. We can both see the actor's faces and it makes sense that they wouldn't always wear them when they didn't really do much to protect them.**

**You might be surprised to learn that the idea of smart glass tech was first turned into a product in 1998 with the EyeTap. The idea has changed and shrunk considerably since then, but it's not as ridiculous as you might think. It's worth looking up if you're at all interested in the concept.**

**I hope that scene with the dead SG team members wasn't too depressing. I wanted to impress upon my MC and the readers that safety isn't a guaranteed thing. The show mentioned it a few times and the books made a bigger deal of it, but these teams don't operate with impunity offworld. Any number of things can happen and not everyone has the plot armor of SG-1 to protect them. **

**Any feedback is appreciated! Do you guys like where I'm going with some of this stuff, or do you think I'm maybe reaching for too much? I'd like to think that I'm doing a fair bit of world building, but I can understand if people think I'm overdoing it. And there's always that one guy who thinks I'm under-doing it and wants more. That's not a sleight in the least, but you know who you are ;)**

**The poll has now closed! It was open longer than I intended, but that's just the way stuff goes sometimes. Results are final and we'll be continuing this story in a linear fashion, going through the seasons and relevant episodes I want to write about in detail. If I miss a specific episode you really want to see, shoot me a PM and I'll do a special flashback or something if I see enough interest or think I might've missed an opportunity for a great chapter or at least half of one dedicated to explaining events as my MC would handle it.**

**I know I haven't updated in awhile, but my other story really took off and the holidays were even busier this year than I anticipated. I'll have more time for writing in the near future and I hope to have a new chapter out for each of my stories every month or so, but we'll see.**

**Next time; the season one finale!**


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